The Superiors and The Inferiors
by Julius Kingsley 099
Summary: Lelouch Lamperouge's life was in constant shambles. His double life as Zero to fight the freedom of Japan were crossing the lines of his secrecy. A secret that no one knows except for those who took care of him and his sister when they landed in an unfamiliar place.
1. Prologue: The Plan for Vengeance

Prologue: The Plan for Vengeance

* * *

 _"_ _All men are not created equal!"_

 _That was the motto of the 98_ _th_ _Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire._

 _The believer of Social Darwinism where strong eats the weak, the rich will devour the poor_

 _And the oppressed will be judged by the righteous._

 _The world held by Charles zi Britannia were in constant war._

 _The game of thrones amongst his many sons and daughters,_

 _And the struggle of the Numbers to break free from the conqueror._

 _This is the world of barbarous men, disguised as merciful saints and kind royalties._

 _Yet, there is a world where strong men protect the weak._

 _The complete opposite of the world where the Britannia reigns._

 _This world, led by heroes who were willing to die to right the wrong, were in living in peace._

 _Willing to protect and nurture the world for the next generation using their gifts._

 _The heroes were far more superior than the ones in the world of constant fighting,_

 _Yet they value their gift and take it upon their selves to protect their world_

 _Even though the world does not deserve their mercy._

 _A truth everyone knows but resists._

 _The two worlds will be brought together by a person._

 _A person that hopes better future for his loved ones and hopes to abolish the discrimination and evils._

 _A person who can move the world by his thoughts, words and actions._

 _The one person who can make great sacrifice for the sake of the world and stand victor against the wrongs._

 _The one person who can make a Requiem._

* * *

A lone man stood in front of a ruined manor in the middle of a field filled with tall grass. His opened trench coat sways a bit in the wind to which he paid no mind. Memories of the past haunts his mind as he continued gazing at the manor.

After gazing at it for another minute, he turned around when he suddenly heard soft footsteps and saw a young boy with jet black hair and blazing amethyst eyes staring back at him with no emotion. The man smirked and beckoned the boy to stand beside to which the boy immediately complied. Together, they gazed at the destroyed manor, comfortable silence in between them.

That said silence was interrupted when the man spoke, "I know you want to go back. Go back to where you are from."

The boy clenched his fists and replied with tightness in his voice, "I have to. I promised to a friend that I will destroy my nation."

The man smiled softly at the boy's determination. He knows he can do it. The boy is intelligent, charismatic and resourceful after all. It is only the matter of time. He knows that it will take time to get his revenge.

"Nunnally and I will go back when we deem it is time. I'll just wait for my time," the boy glanced at the man and smirked, "for now."

"You'll always have our support, Lelouch. Just give us a call and we'll come immediately."

Lelouch gave him a smile in gratitude. "Thank you, Mister Bruce. You and the others helped us even though we are not worthy of your time."

"Nonsense, Lelouch. You are an honorary member of Justice League. You and Nunnally are."

Lelouch's small smile disappeared, "What about Milly?"

Bruce gave a soft chuckle at what the boy said, "Oh, I forgot Milly. She's not gonna like it if I forgot about her."

Lelouch laughed along with Bruce but stooped when he felt a sharp pain on his sides. Hunching forward, Lelouch coughed with difficulty. Bruce knelt beside the boy and rubbed his back to ease the coughing fits. "Still hurts?"

Nodding, Lelouch wiped the blood on his lips and answered, "Yeah, that damn Lex made me suffer when he kidnapped me."

"Don't worry. Just control your emotions and you won't be having any problems."

"I won't become like Doomsday unless Lex manages to continue his modification to my DNA which I' m afraid will happen if he kidnaps me again." Lelouch stood and dusted his trench coat with Bruce following his actions.

"How far did he go, anyway?" Bruce lead Lelouch away from the manor to his car.

"Far enough that I can reach or surpass Clark's half strength and agility." Lelouch said.

"We need to lock this powers of mine so that Lex will have a difficulty to modify my DNA," Lelouch stopped walking and looked back to Bruce with fire blazing in his amethyst eyes, "and besides, I can't let my bastard of a father find out about this. He'll have a field day if he gets his hands on me and my powers."

Opening the door to the car, Lelouch entered with Bruce still staring behind his back, weighing the possibilities of what he said.


	2. Turn 1: The Day the Real Demon Awakens

Turn 1: The Day the Real Demon Awakens

* * *

 _'_ _Who would've thought that there exists a dimension where the mighty USA never exists? Instead of the country that promotes liberty and aids the defenseless, there exists a country with Darwinian ideologies and leads a campaign to conquer the world and enslave them under their barbarian ways. Holy Britannian Empire and the USA shares almost the same geographical locations and history but differs in ideologies and principles. It was noted that the two are advanced when it came to technological and military field with humanoid robots called knightmare frames and FLEIJA as Britannia's weapons of destruction and with advanced ships, tanks, jets and nuclear weapons as USA's own weapons of destruction._

 _Who would win between the two mighty realm?_

 _But the game changer of the war between the two were USA's Metahumans and Britannia's Geass Users. Each have their own army of supernatural entities that may change the outcome of the war. The former Eleventh Prince of Holy Britannian Empire and Bruce Wayne's adopted son, Lelouch Wayne (nee vi Britannia) lead a campaign against Britannia. Donning, once again, the mask of Zero and armed with geass and the Black Knights, the genius general and presidential adviser started a rebellion against an empire that was once his home.'_

 _-Phineas Flint, an excerpt from USA v Britannia: The Battle for Reign (Published in Metropolis, Illinois, USA. 2018)_

* * *

"Right. I've send Jeremiah on ahead. He'll take care of any obstacles in the way. Don't try to fight him. He just came over to our side." Lelouch panted as he ran up the escalator. His legs were getting tired from running but he has to continue to get to the rooftop were Sayoko waits for him with a VTOL aircraft. Cursing his pathetic body, Lelouch slowed down when he reached the third floor of the mall and completely stopped when he saw someone lying on the floor. He squinted his eyes to observe the body through the thick smoke that lurks the place but widens once he saw who was lying on the floor.

"Shirley?" He ran to her and was shocked to see her lying on her own blood. Crouching down, he checked her pulse and was relieved when he felt a pulse that signifies that she's still alive but still in grave danger. "Shirley, who did this to you?"

"Lulu?" Shirley opened her eyes and saw Lelouch looking down at her worriedly. "I'm glad we can talk at the very end."

"Don't say that. It's not the end. I'll call a doctor so just…" He took his phone nut before he can dial the number of the emergency doctor, Shirley placed her hand on top of his which made him stop.

"Ever since my memories are come back, I have been feeling so very afraid. A teacher who wasn't a teacher. Friends you don't have memories to share. Everyone who was just lying." She took a shuddering breath before continuing.

"It's that as though the whole world was spying on me. That's the world you've been fighting all by yourself, isn't it? All alone. So that's why I... why I wanted to be someone who at least be truthful to you."

Her words made an impact on him, especially on his heart and mind. All this time, he never thought that he was fighting the world alone even though he commands an army and Shirley's words made him realized that he, indeed, was alone.

 _'_ _She wants to fight beside you but you know that she's still leaving you. She's dying and you know that.'_ Lelouch thought to himself. _'You can't do anything to save her.'_

The truth made him cry. She's really dying and he can't do anything to save her.

"Shirley…"

 _'_ _If only…'_ On the outside, Lelouch was begging to Shirley to survive but in the inside, he accepted the fact that she's going to leave him.

Suddenly, another voice entered on his mind. A voice that he thought he forgot a long time ago which was buried in the deep recesses of his mind.

 _'_ _You have a power to save her, Lelouch. Unleash it and you will be unstoppable!'_

With that thought, everything that Lelouch chose to forget entered his mind. Every decision, thoughts and memories that made him who he was a long time ago made an appearance on his present mind. A surge of power he long forgot and craves to get back made him believe that he can save Shirley.

"No! You won't die!" He exclaimed. "You can't die, Shirley!"

He picked her up, which startled her, and made a mad dash to the rooftop where he saw Sayoko waiting for him.

Sayoko, upon seeing her master carrying a wounded Shirley on his arms, ran up to him and helped him to board her inside the VTOL.

"What happened, Lelouch-sama?"

Lelouch grunted in frustration before turning to the maid, "I have no time to explain this. Now, let's get out of here!"

"What about Rolo-sama?" Sayoko asked but still obeyed Lelouch.

"He's not my concern right now. He can find his way back by his own." Lelouch tried to suppress the blood flowing out of Shirley's gunshot wound but was failing miserably. Remembering his first-aid training from his short military school days, Lelouch made a sigh of relief as he finished sealing temporarily the wound.

"Shirley, come on. Don't fall asleep." He begged to her when he saw that she was slowly falling asleep. He checked her breathing and was mortified when he felt shallow breaths were escaping from her nose.

 _'_ _CPR… CPR. Do it!'_ He encouraged himself.

As Lelouch perform a CPR on Shirley, Sayoko, who was busy flying the VTOL, made a touchdown on the hidden part of the Ikaruga to not alert the Black Knights. She hopped down the VTOL to search for a medical doctor and she instantly saw one, coincidentally bringing himself his first-aid kit.

"Come with me!" She dragged the poor doctor, who was protesting, to the VTOL.

"What happened here?" The doctor cried upon seeing a boy doing a CPR to a wounded girl.

"You have to save her!" Lelouch cried out desperately.

Checking her pulse, the doctor took note of the bandage that was temporarily stopping the blood flow from the wound and applied slight pressure to it. "We need to get her to the infirmary!"

Carrying her bridal style, Lelouch made a mad dash towards the infirmary and placed her on a cot. The doctor and Sayoko followed him, panting as they attempted to catch up to him.

"I'll take it from here. Go!"

* * *

Sayoko stared at Lelouch as he pace outside of the infirmary, waiting for the doctor to come out and tell them the results. It has been an hour since the doctor shooed them out of the room and thankfully, no one has seen them in front of the infirmary.

"Master, you should sit down." Sayoko offered the chair she was sitting but before Lelouch can sit down, the doctor came out of the infirmary.

"How is she?" Lelouch did not beat around the bush.

"We almost lost her but thankfully, she's now fine." Lelouch breathed a sigh of relief when he heard that she survived. "But we still need blood because she lost too much."

"Do you know any of her relatives?" The question made Lelouch tense. How will he relay the news to her mother about Shirley's almost demise?

Lelouch pushed aside the thought and continued his talk with the doctor. "What's her blood type?"

The doctor checked Shirley's medical chart. "We need Type-A."

"I'm Type-A." He grabbed the shoulders of the doctor, desperation showing on his face.

The doctor was at lost for words because of the boy's blatant display of desperation. "Um, I still need to check if your blood is compatible with the patient."

"Just donate my blood, goddammit!"

The doctor tried to reason with Lelouch but he seems to never get it.

Lelouch, however, was getting irritated because of the doctor. He can't fathom how Diethard chose him as their on-board doctor when he can't even do his own job properly without much talk.

 _'_ _You leave me no choice.'_ Lelouch took off his contacts and geassed the doctor into submission.

"Allow me to donate blood for her!"

"But, sir—" The doctor stopped mid-sentence as the geass command settles on his mind and robs him off of reason. "Yes, my lord."

Lelouch paled when he saw Shirley's body hooked in different machines that supports her. Her skin was a shade paler than her normal skin tone due to blood lost. Her once soft and shiny hair was now covered in grime and has lost its shine.

"Shirley…" Tears slowly dropped out of his eye but he tried to suppress the sadness he felt for the girl laying on the medical cot and just be strong for her sake.

"Sir, are you ready?"

Lelouch wiped his tears before turning to face the doctor. After giving him a nod as a reply, Lelouch gave one last glance to the sleeping girl before following the doctor.

* * *

C.C. looked at the metal box on her hands. Curiosity was eating at her subconscious mind, destroying every reason she made just to not open the box.

 _'_ _What is this? I don't remember Lelouch purchasing this nor bringing this to his quarters.'_ She shook the box and she heard muffled noise which indicates that there was something inside the box.

She was searching for Lelouch's credit card in his drawer when she stumbled upon a regular metal box in the double-boarded compartment of the drawer. The metal box was big enough to fit five regular-sized books.

 _'_ _Oh, whatever! Lelouch won't know about this anyway.'_ She destroyed the rusty lock and opened it, revealing several news articles which immediately caught her eyes.

 **'LEX LUTHOR KIDNAPPED LELOUCH WAYNE, ADOPTED SON OF THE PLAYBOY BILLIONAIRE BRUCE WAYNE.'**

 _'_ _Lelouch and Nunnally was adopted?! When was this?'_

"What is this?" She asked herself aloud. Picking the news article that contains the headline that caught her eyes, C.C. started to read the mysterious article.

 _'_ _Exactly three hours ago, three men armed with guns entered the house of the infamous playboy-billionaire Bruce Wayne and kidnapped his adopted son, Lelouch Wayne. The eleven-year-old kid was with his crippled and blind sister, Nunnally Wayne, and Bruce's butler, Alfred Pennyworth, when the men barged into the house and took him. The butler tried to resist the men but he was knocked out by a sleeping gas brought by the unidentified men while they escaped with the boy.'_

C.C. stopped reading the article when she noticed that the words on the lower half of the article was faded; its ink was dissolving into the aged paper which made the words harder to read, much less see. Frustration clouded her emotion when she can't any further information from the article. She moved unto the next article with a picture of young Lelouch and you Nunnally, together with a man she don't recognized. Perhaps it was their adopted father.

The mysterious man was in his mid-thirties or early forties but his built was still stocky, indicating that he still does work-outs. His smile emits arrogance which was known upon many playboys but he has an aura of power, discipline and intelligence that was in par with Lelouch. There's something with him that made C.C. thankful that she did not come across him in Lelouch's earlier days.

Upon her inspection on the back of the picture, C.C. saw a message that shocked her.

 _'_ _When man challenged the god, he gave up. When the demon challenged the god, he lost and the god died. The god resurrected and a tame demon entered. Now, the tame demon received a power and he will challenge the god. Gods and sinners alike, he will cleanse the earth by killing them._

 _And now, the god will be good as dead!'_

 _'_ _Does Lelouch intends to kill the gods just like what Charles is doing?'_

"But… why?" She found herself asking aloud. She was taken aback because of what she had read. It was so different of Lelouch to do this kind of crime but it makes sense since he envisions to rid the world of sinners. What she didn't know is if he wants to rid the world of gods.

Placing the picture on top of table, she saw an odd thing made out of silver metal with black lines on it. It was shaped as… a bat?

 _'_ _What the hell is this?'_ She picked the odd thing, careful not to touch the edge of it because of its sharp edge, and inspected it upon closer look.

"What an odd thing." She simply stated before placing on the table beside the picture.

Next, she picked up a thick book that looks suspicious. It was locked and looked like a confidential file based of the word 'TOP SECRET' mark on the front of the book.

"Property of the United States Government? So Lelouch does intend to use the United States of Japan as an army to achieve all of his plans."

She was proceeding to open the book but stopped when she saw that it was locked, preventing her from opening it and see its contents.

After giving up trying to open the locked book, she picked up the next item on the box that she intends to inspect.

"A… phone? But it looks different." On her hand was a black phone with no keypads and just plain screen, although it has buttons on the edge part of it. It looks advanced to her considering that flip phones were the in-demand to youths and aristocrats this time.

 _'_ _Probably screen touch, although I know it was only for things that needs large screens.'_ She inspected the outside features of the phone once more before deciding to open it. She tried to press the buttons on its edge and luckily, she was able to open it by pressing and holding the small button for a couple of seconds after attempting many tries to open it.

 _'_ _Welcome.'_ A text came out when it finally opened. It flashed another message a couple of seconds later.

 _'_ _Gently place your thumb on the screen to unlock the phone.'_

"Shit." She turned off the phone once again when it failed to open after she placed her thumb on the screen.

* * *

"Jeremiah, I want you to go back to Ikebukuro Station and fake Shirley Fenette's death." Lelouch called Jeremiah as soon as he emerged out from the infirmary. He was a shade paler considering that he donated large amount of blood for Shirley to help her regain some energy and strength.

"She's known too much and it will be a risk if we let her go. She might end up dead if we choose to let her get back to her old life."

 _"_ _What will you do to her, Your Highness?"_ Jeremiah replied.

"She'll be safe here. For now, just do what I said and call me back when you are finished with your task." Lelouch immediately hung-up, never letting Jeremiah say his affirmation.

* * *

 **Watchtower**

 **August 05, 2018**

"What… did you said?" Bruce Wayne aka Batman was shocked at what Martian Manhunter has said. He was so sure that he heard wrong that's why he needed him to say it to him again clearly.

Martian Manhunter rubbed his temples in stress before repeating the message he delivered. "The microchip we implanted on Lelouch has send reports that says that the blocked region of his brain where his powers where locked was now starting to resurface again due to excessive intense emotions he has been experiencing. The other microchip attempted to block the resurfacing but it malfunctioned due to its excessive usage."

"It has already started." Batman scowled.

"We can go there and help him without alerting him just like we did last time. What made us stop?" The memories of their past ventures to the other dimension resurfaced to Martian Manhunter's mind. They have witnessed the massive destruction Lelouch and Britannia have brought upon that dimension but they chose not to intervene because they could possible destroy it further and it was not their place to join unless Lelouch permitted them to.

And besides, they know that Lelouch knows what he was doing even though he was the reason that it was slowly on the brink of destruction but that did not stop them to scowl and shake their heads in pure sadness.

"I received an intel that Lex Luthor was attempting to track down Lelouch's dimension. We are in risk of detection if we travel there to help him." Batman turned to his computer and type in a code. "I have contacted Amanda Waller for help and she says that she is willing to send the Task Force X in our stead. The US has enough security to not be detected by Luthor. I asked her if we can tag along but she said that she already plan to deploy large number of troops and equipment and if we join, we will be detected by Luthor. She also said that second deployment will not take place for fear of detection."

Batman sighed heavily before continuing, "After that, all we can do is plan, bid for our turn to go there and pray that Lelouch will not run in trouble because of his geass."

* * *

 _'_ _We never knew that before Black Knights, there was the Justice League and the Task Force X that was far more superior than us. When I saw them, all I can think of is 'Are they circus artists?'. But when they fought us, all I can think of is, 'Why did I chose to side with Prince Schneizel?'. I knew that we should've not betrayed him for we are now screwed.'_

 _-Diethard Reed, an excerpt from The Betrayal and Downfall of the Great Black Knights (Published in Britannian Imperial Academy in tribute for His Highness' glory as made available worldwide.)_

* * *

 **NOTES:**

1\. Took place in episode 13 of Code Geass R2.

2\. The batarang C.C. saw was like the one in Zack Snyder's _Batman v Superman_ movie and the _Justice League_ trailer.

3\. The 'TOP SECRET' book that she also saw was the one in David Ayer's _Suicide Squad_ movie.

4\. The phone thing is just from what I have observed in Code Geass. They have flip phones whereas we have smartphones which was far more advanced than it. Don't include the phones in Akito the Exiled spin-off. Since the production of the movie was made when the smartphones are already in-demand, the movie's gadgets needs to also upgrade but I still do think that if it was made around 2008, Akito the Exiled will still use flip phones and such.

5\. C.C. only saw the words 'United States' not the 'United States of America' hence her false accusations towards Lelouch's plans.

6\. The note that she saw on the back of the picture was a reference to Zack Snyder's _Batman v Superman_.

7\. Yes, the Justice League traveled in Lelouch's dimension and watched him in the shadows and yes, they knew about his geass and what it does. They helped and nursed back to health several people although it will be revealed later in the story.

8\. The _Man of Steel_ , _Batman v Superman_ and _Suicide Squad_ arc happened in this story although I will change several information.

9\. The two dimensions will be having the same timeline although the Superman's debut will be moved to 2005 instead of 2013 in _Man of Steel_ movie. This will be the timeline:

2005 – Superman's Debut _(Man of Steel)_

2007 – Death of Superman _(Batman v Superman)_

2008 – Formation of the Task Force X _(Suicide Squad)_ and the formation of the Justice League

2010 – Lelouch, Nunnally and Milly's arrival to the Justice League's dimension

2010-2015 – Their stay

2015 – They went back

2017 – Zero's Debut


	3. Turn 2: Past will not be Forgotten

Turn 2: Past will not be Forgotten

* * *

" _When I first saw him, I knew he had a great potential… as a leader, a fighter and as a hero. He will make an exceptional legend in this world but I never thought that he will make a legend in two realms. I'll never regret having him as one of my advisers."_

 _-US President Wilson Virchow_

* * *

"It seems hard," Superman approached the cape crusader who was in front of the large monitor of the computer. He was pinpointing the current exact location of Lelouch with the help of the tracker they placed on his biceps after he was abducted by Lex.

"Not that hard since we have the coordinates of his dimension. Getting the signal from that dimension is the hard part." Bruce said, not looking at his companion.

"We should've helped him a long time ago." Clark said out of the blue. He noticed that Bruce stopped his work and turned towards him. "We already helped him from the start by rescuing them."

Clark snorted and sat on the chair beside Bruce. He stayed quiet for a minute, possibly contemplating what he would say next.

"What I meant was, we should've helped him with what he's doing."

Bruce stared at the monitor in front of him and closed his eyes in stress. "He told us to never interfere unless he told so."

"But we're about to help him without his consent. That'll make him angry." Clark reasoned.

Bruce turned to Clark and seriously said, "This is different."

Clark caught what Bruce has meant. His mouth opened in shock as he realized that their greatest fear has come true.

"His powers have been unlocked. I don't know how but he'll need us to protect him from Lex and himself." Bruce stood from his chair, went to a table and helped himself with a glass of Bourbon.

"Does someone, aside from me, knows about this?" Clark pinched the bridge of his nose in stress.

"Just you and Martian Manhunter." Bruce gulped his drink. "I'll tell it to the rest but only to the founders. I'll intend to keep it a secret from the other members, for now. It'll cause panic and hysteria."

"It's probably for the best." Clark nodded in affirmation.

* * *

"Lulu?" Lelouch felt Shirley's hand on his own. He looked up and saw Shirley's smiling face.

"What is it?" He asked, worry seeping on his voice.

"I just want to thank you." She said.

"For what?" He grasped her hand firmly on his own and squeezing it once in a while to comfort her.

"For saving me. If it were not for your, I would be dead by now."

He felt his heart tug at the thought of her dying on his arms. He never what it was but he doesn't want her dying. He knows that if that happens to her, he'll completely loose his grasp on morality and loose his sanity.

"There's no need to thank me, Shirley. It was my fault that Rolo shot you." Lelouch said quietly. He was still reeling in anger at what his supposedly-brother did to one of the most important person in his life. But still the question remains.

Why did he do that? Why attempt killing Shirley?

"I remember now, Lulu." Those four words snapped Lelouch from his thoughts. He was shocked that she has now remembered all the things he did to her, particularly the Narita incident that killed her father and him erasing her memories of him.

Does she hate him?

How come she started to remember?

 _'Unless she was in vicinity when Jeremiah used his Geass Canceler. That should be the reason.'_ A voice in his mind said.

"Why? Why did you erase my memories?" She stared at the ceiling when she said this. He can see the betrayal in her eyes as she gazed ahead.

"To spare you the pain that I've caused." This was the only reason he can give her. This was true. After all he'd done to her, she deserved to at least receive truth from him.

Shirley shifted her gaze to him and stared at him for long. He does not know what was running in her mind but he hopes that she can see the truth in his eyes. "I deserved to at least share your pain, Lelouch."

It was rare that she calls him by his name but when she does, it was either she's angry at him or she's serious. At this time, he can't pinpoint if it was the former or the latter.

"There was one time in the past that I wanted to hate you for what you've done with my father," she watched as sadness, once again, flashed in his eyes, "But remembering what you are to me, I can't bring myself to hate you."

"Why, Shirley? You should hate me after what I have done to you!" He exclaimed. Shutting his eyes close, he immersed himself in anger and loneliness. He does not want her to see his emotions through his eyes right now. It will only cause her so much grief.

Shirley shook her head and smiled. "Because I love you, Lulu."

Lelouch snapped his eyes open and stared at her green orbs. He knows that Shirley harbors a crush with him but loving him? It was joyful yet surreal at the same time.

"I don't deserve your love, Shirley. I hurt you." He hung his head in shame. Shirley reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand, making him to look up at her. "Everyone experiences pain and hurt, Lelouch."

She dropped her hand, "And I am no exception to that."

"I forgive you, you know. It is your turn to forgive yourself. You won't be able to move forward if you continue to lock yourself in pain and dwell in past." She smiled softly to him making him return with small but heartfelt smile of his own.

Silence fell upon them as Lelouch contemplated whether or not to tell Shirley about him. He wants to make it up to her and telling her about his past will be his best shot to it.

"Do you believe in alternate dimensions?" He broke the silence when he said that. Shirley looked at him with curiosity on her face. She honestly doesn't know what to answer to that question nor does knows where that come from. "Um, I don't know. It's kind of unbelievable but with what happened with you," he knows she was referring to his geass, "you never know."

"It is true." He blurted out.

"Me, Nunnally and Milly were brought on this another dimension where Britannia never existed." Shirley felt her eyes go wide when she heard what Lelouch has said. Him, Nunnally and Milly? How? And Britannia never existed in this world that Lelouch was talking about? Impossible!"

Lelouch felt sadness swept inside him as he relieved the memories of their untimely and surprising expedition to the other dimension.

* * *

 _ **September 13, 2011 a.t.b.**_

 _ **Ashford Academy's Club House**_

" _Ne, Lelouch," Twelve-year-old Milly Ashford called to the raven haired boy in the parlor of the Club House. She was holding a medium box in her hands as she managed her way to the kitchen room with her maid, Sayoko Shinozaki, trailing behind with her own box on her hands. "Where would I place this?"_

 _Lelouch turned around from the food he cooks and gestured to the kitchen table. "Just place it there."_

" _Milly, is that you?" He heard his sister on her new wheelchair entered the room, her shy voice accompanied her enter._

" _Nunnally!" He heard quick set of footsteps but never paid it any attention as he continued fixing their launch. He only turned around when the maid offered to help but he refused, seeing that he knows how to cook by himself._

" _How are you—What the?!" He turned around when he heard Milly's panic-stricken voice paired with Sayoko's gasp and was surprised with what he saw._

 _A blue light in the doorway has appeared. It was shaped in oblong. The first thing that entered Lelouch's mind was portal because it resembles the portals in the few sci-fi Britannian movies that were allowed to produce and he has seen._

" _What is that?" Milly now shares his own curiosity about the mysterious portal. He saw Milly on the corner of his eyes as she advanced towards the portal only to be stopped by Sayoko. He never paid them any attention after that as he advanced towards her frightened sister._

" _Big brother, what is it?" Her shaky voice alerted Lelouch._

 _Suddenly, a gust of wind started to suck them towards the portal. He held to his sister's wheelchair in his might but it never did anything. He watched in pure hopelessness as her sister was sucked by the portal and then followed by Milly._

" _Miss Milly!" Sayoko screamed after her and she moved towards the portal to follow the girl. However, the table inside the kitchen blocked the entrance of the portal, making Sayoko unable to follow the two because she was too big to fit into the remaining space of the portal. Lelouch has no choice but to sneak past her and follow her sister and Milly into the unknown…_

* * *

"We woke up in a strange city after that." Lelouch hung his head as he narrated the events that changed his life when he was a child. He did not chance to stare at the girl in front of him and just continued to talk about their untimely excursion trip. "Tall, extravagant-looking buildings left and right. Hustle and bustle of people on the streets. Cars, not knightmare frames, occupied the cities roads. The city we were in were… different from any city that I've ever been."

Lelouch sighed deeply and continued his story, "No flags of Britannia, EU or Chinese Federation on every building we saw. In fact, there are no signs of the three superpowers on the city we were in."

* * *

 _Lelouch woke up with a throbbing head. He looked around him as he tried to remember what happened to him and where he was only to come up blank as his mind started to recover from the state of shock he was in. He saw Nunnally and Milly at the corner of his eyes and he rushed towards them, abandoning his quick search of his memories to help them._

" _Where are we, Lelouch?" Milly held her head in her hands as she felt vertigo swept her mind in an attempt to stand on her ground._

 _Lelouch looked around him and deduced that they were in an alley of sorts. He looked at the entrance and saw people walking past the alley, not even bothering to look at them. Unfamiliar looking designs of cars zoomed past the alley and yet no one still noticed them._

" _We need to get out of here." He carried the tired Nunnally on his back as she and Milly walked outside of the building and to the unfamiliar city they were in._

" _Lelouch…" Milly uttered in great shock as she stared at the place they were in._

 _What greeted them after exiting the alley was tall, gloomy and expensive-looking buildings with lights on the top of the few. People of different ages littered around the streets as they walked past them. Some of them bothered to glance at the three in wonder (perhaps they were wondering what the three were doing on the streets in night without adult supervision) but no one approached them. Instead of knightmare frames, police cars were patrolling the city with a police car left behind, positioned in front of a building._

" _There's no Britannian flag," Lelouch said in daze._

" _Hey, kids!" A man, no younger than twenties, approached the three. He was wearing clothes different from what Britannians wore; a shirt underneath a glossy jacket paired with black pants. The man was smiling from ear to ear, his black hair was damped, probably from the recent rain fall._

 _He crouched in front of them when he finally reached them and held out his hand for them to shake, "Nice to see you, kiddos. Barry Allen at your service."_

 _Lelouch extended his hand and shook Barry's, "Lelouch Lamperouge and this is my sister, Nunnally." He gestured to the sleeping girl on his back._

" _And I'm Milly."_

" _Can you tell me where we are, Mister Barry?" Lelouch got straight to the point, making the man look at him in pure astonishment._

" _Just call me Barry, Lelouch," he stood from his crouch, "and as for your question, I can explain it to you better if you follow me."_

 _Lelouch narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He has a feeling that this might end badly for them if they complied and follow him. There is a high chance that this man was sent by the emperor to kill him and his sister but he has no choice but to agree to get an intel._

" _Welcome to our headquarters!" Barry spread his arms eagle and exclaimed happily. Lelouch felt Nunnally stir on his back. He glared at the man and coaxed his sister to sleep longer. Of course, it did not escape to him that he said the word 'headquarters' and it only made him more suspicious._

* * *

 _They entered the highly-advanced building, Barry on the front of the children acting as a guide. Lelouch's mind was distracted from his tiredness as soon as he caught sight of the inside of the room they were brought in. Large flat-screen television mounted the half of the wall and the opposite walls, the exception of the wall where the door was, was made in glass walls that overlooks the gloomy city. Three comfortable-looking couches where in front of the monitor and a glass of table in front of it. The room was simple in design without any touch of Britannian décor and style. It was very different from the rooms Britannians made._

 _Barry approached the television and opened it, a show Lelouch does not know was playing on it._

" _You can hang-out here for a while. I'm just gonna get food for you, kiddos." And with that, Barry exited the room leaving the three behind._

" _Wow!" Milly rushed to one of the couch and started bouncing up and down on it. Lelouch chose to lay Nunnally on the opposite side of Milly's couch to let her rest. He did not bother to sit on the last unoccupied couch and chose to stay on Nunnally's side._

" _Hey, Lelouch!" The blonde girl whistled to catch Lelouch's attention after she calmed down from bouncing on the couch, "Do you have any guess where we are?"_

 _The raven-haired ex-prince shook his head in reply. In fact, there's nothing on his head right now aside from securing their safety if the man posed a threat to them. He started looking around to search for a weapon but came up with nothing._

" _And…I'm back!" Barry announced once he came back from getting their foods. He felt his stomach grumble when he smelled the food Barry brought. He inspected it first, much to Barry's stupefaction, for poison and such but stopped when he saw Milly digging unlady-like on the food. The food was drool-worthy on the outside but he never saw anything like it before._

" _It's macaroni and cheese." Barry said, probably noticing the look of utter curiosity on his face._

 _Lelouch turned to his sister who was still asleep and gently shook her awake while quietly calling her name. He stopped when he felt Barry's hand on his shoulder, "Just let her sleep, dude. There's still mac and cheese in the kitchen. She can eat when she wakes up."_

 _He complied and started eating his own plate._

" _You have funny choice of words, Mister Barry." Milly said, her mouth still partially full of food. Lelouch nodded on agreement._

" _You'll get used to it." Barry said._

 _Lelouch searched for a glass of water but came up with nothing. No glasses of juice or tea were on the table and only a can of something he did not know was on it._

 _Barry followed Lelouch's line of sight and saw him staring on a can of Coke. He picked it up, opened it and gave it Lelouch. "Here. Drink this."_

 _Lelouch accepted the can and cautiously drank it. When the liquid touched his tongue, the sweet-flavored drink seemed to burst on it and quenched his thirst. When he started swallowing it, he cringed in pain when it turned to something he can compare to acid, and hurt his throat. He has no other choice but to swallow it continuously._

" _What is this?" Lelouch gestured to the drink in annoyance._

 _Barry blinked his eyes and replied, "That's a soda."_

 _The raven-haired boy tilted his head and repeated the word syllabically, "So… da?"_

" _Yup! It's a carbonated drink and usually called soft drink."_

 _Lelouch held the can and stared at it. The words 'Coke' was displayed on the front. "Why does it turns like acid?"_

" _That's because of the acidic agent on the soda. It's nothing to worry about, kid, so don't stress yourself on that."_

* * *

" _Ah, I'm full!" Milly rubbed her stomach to emphasize her point and settled back on her couch. Barry left minutes ago to let the three rest._

" _This is so good, big brother." Nunnally commented to Lelouch as he spoon-fed her sister. He reached a tissue and wiped a sauce on the corner of Nunnally's mouth. "What is this?"_

" _Barry said it's macaroni and cheese." Milly said from her couch. "You should try the Coke, Nunna-chan. It's amazing!"_

 _Lelouch brought the can's rim to Nunnally's mouth, letting her drink the soda. She coughed when the soda reached her throat, never expecting the cold and acid of the drink._

" _I'm okay, big brother." She said when Lelouch started to gently hit Nunnally's back to ease her coughing. He only stopped when he heard someone entered the room and looked up to see who was it._

 _He saw a woman, in her late twenties, with Barry. She wore black women's top, tight pants and high heels. She gazed at them softly but still wary as if she was scared that they will be scared at her._

" _Hello." She said softly and approached them slowly. "I'm Diana. What's your names?"_

 _This time, Milly was the first one to reply to the woman, "Hello, I'm Milly." She said enthusiastically and held out her hand. Diana held her hand out to shake Milly's hand and smiled softly to her._

" _I'm Lelouch." Lelouch said and shook her hand in greeting, "and this is Nunnally." He gestured to his sister. Nunnally offered a smile to Diana and said, "Hello, pleased to meet you, Miss Diana."_

" _Just call me, Diana." She ruffled Nunnally's hair and turned towards Lelouch._

" _Do you know where you are?" She asked the boy gently._

" _No." Lelouch said with a shake of his head. He still hasn't come up with an idea as to where they are but he was sure that this place was far away from Britannia and from Area 11._

" _Do you believe in alternate realities or alternate dimensions?" Diana asked again._

 _Lelouch shrugged and replied, "I suppose."_

" _Don't tell me…" Milly widened her eyes in understanding to Diana's question. It crossed in Lelouch's mind a while ago but he never thought that it was possible having different dimensions._

" _Yes. This is not your dimension." Diana said apologetically._

* * *

"We were shocked when we were informed about that yet glad at the same time because we land in a place where there is no war and there is no Britannia. We made no mistake in a staying there for a while." Lelouch hung his head, mixed emotions were grazing at him right now.

"But then something happened…"

* * *

 **Belle Reve**

 **Louisiana, USA (2 hours before Operation Rebellion commences)**

"Where are they?" Amanda Waller, the woman behind the infamous Suicide Squad of the US, stood in front of Captain Griggs with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face. The latter was sporting a confident smirk.

"They're prepping up, ma'am. Ready for showtime." He boasted.

She eyed the smirking captain and said, "Good."

Amanda turned and walked away from Griggs and proceeded to head to the nearest comfort room where she called Bruce Wayne.

"They're getting ready. Orders?"

"Tell them not to engage the enemy unless Lelouch tells them or unless the enemy engages first. The reason they are there is because they need to protect and watch Lelouch. Have they've been briefed of the mission?"

Amanda did not hesitate to answer his question. "Yes. I already briefed them earlier."

She then moved on to another pressing matter that needs attention. "I heard POTUS called you?"

"He just called to tell me that he plans to send a nuclear bomb along with the Task Force X. It will not be used unless desperate time calls for desperate measure."

Amanda smiled softly, knowing that Lelouch was not the type of person who resorts to desperate measures unless the events did not go according to his plan. "He won't use it, for sure."

And with that, she hung up and exited the bathroom.

* * *

' _Jimmy Fallon: What made you betray your leader and leave him alone with the sharks?_

 _Kaname Ohgi: It's… none of your business._

 _Jimmy Fallon: You are the Black Knights and you vowed to be the Knights of Justice yet you won't let the people from all over the world to know why you betrayed your leader who's willing to give you your freedom from Britannia? How inconsiderate of you!_

 _Kyoshiro Toudou: You don't have any rights to question what we have done!_

 _Diethard Reed: From what I see of you, I am concluding that you are a small-time reporter. I don't know why the HiTV chose you. You don't even know how to report properly._

 _Jimmy Fallon: Oh, that's where you are wrong. I am a comedian who's simply questioning you right now for the sake of the people and inform them about your betrayal. That's what I call journalism._

 _Diethard Reed: Funny how I never heard of your name nor your show._

 _Jimmy Fallon: Are you even considering that I might be from another dimension? That's because I am.'_

 _-An excerpt of Jimmy Fallon's interview of the Black Knights (The Episode for the Traitors, The Tonight's Show Starring Jimmy Fallon)_

* * *

 **NOTES:**

1\. The portal that brought them to DC universe is like the one in _Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths_ animated movie. The one that Owlman did not the one that transported the Justice League.

2\. I know Barry Allen's hair color is blonde but I'll go with black based on the upcoming _Justice League_ movie.

3\. About the food… since the three were royalties, they were used to eating delicious cuisines that was made by talented chefs and a mac and cheese is not fit for royalties. As for the soda issue… let's just pretend that sodas do not exists in Lelouch's dimension.

4\. Since Lelouch's dimension was in the midst of war and Britannian royalties were not into mundane tasks and things, there might be limited production of movies and television shows. Britannia might permit some to make movies but it might need their approval and topic must be about their propaganda. Their music, on the other hand, was far different from ours. Britannians (as what I observed in the anime) likes orchestral concertos and classical music. They were, after all, noble people.

5\. Britannia might never have Hollywood (from what I can conclude).


	4. Turn 3: The Meeting of the Lifetime

Turn 3: The Meeting of the Lifetime

* * *

" _This world will witness my power! They'll witness my legacy!"_

 _-Lex Luthor_

* * *

 **Watchtower**

 **August 5, 2018 (2 hours after Operation Rebellion commenced and 4 hours after Martian Manhunter informed Batman)**

"Change of plans," Bruce announced as soon as he entered the meeting room. He never noticed the straightening of his fellow members' backs but he knew that he has their attention. "Hal, you stay here with Aquaman."

"What?! I wanna go!" Hal said when he heard what Bruce said. He was very excited to kick some Britannian ass especially their royalties for what they had done to his friend and fight some of their mechs to prove that they are not the superiors. Probably have a chance to pilot that Lancelot, too.

Bruce narrowed his eyes at Hal and sat on his seat, "I need someone to keep an eye on Lex, especially now that he has Joker under his command."

He dropped that newspaper he brought on the table and watched as each member of the League took an eye to it.

"'The Joker has escaped the Arkham Asylum, again!'" Diana read aloud.

Hal sat down on his chair helplessly and clutched his head between his hands, "Oh, man! I thought I'm gonna have a chance to pilot that Lancelot. Dammit!"

Beside him was Barry who guffawed loudly when he heard Hal. He clutched his midsection as he laughed loudly. Hal turned to his comrade and asked him suspiciously with narrowed eyes, "And what are you laughing about?"

Barry wiped the tears on the corner of his eye and turned to Hal, "'Coz,"

"Because… what?" Hal inched towards Barry, lifting his hand to show his glowing ring to Barry.

"I'll be the first one to pilot that Lancelot! Ha!" Barry said arrogantly. He watched in delight as Hal leaned back on his seat, crossed his arms on his chest and sulked like a child which only amused him further.

"Okay, on to the subject again." Bruce took the remote of the projector and showed them a footage of Joker's escape on the infamous Arkham Asylum. "This happened last night,"

They watched in pure horror as Joker escaped the facility of the asylum and tortured some guards on the way out. Good thing he never brought someone out of the asylum. Joker escaping was enough of a problem as it is. Tagging along multiple prisoners will be a much larger problem for them for it will cause massive hysteria and fear among the civilians.

"And that's Mercy Graves," Bruce zoomed the footage and they saw Mercy, Lex's assistant, as she waited outside of the asylum to accompany the escapee. She wore black outfit and it is clear that she did not want to be caught on the CCTV cameras but the footage was very clear and they managed to see her.

"Now, what I want you to do is to spy on Lex while we're on Lelouch's dimension. He'll also likely try to intercept us to get Lelouch's dimension's coordinates so that he can go to that dimension and get Lelouch himself."

"But why would he want Joker?" Clark rubbed his forehead and leaned back on his seat. He tried to think of a reason on why Lex funded Joker's escape.

"I have a hunch that Lex will use Joker as a diversion on the other dimension. While we, Britannians and Black Knights are occupied with Joker, Lex will probably make his move and kidnap Lelouch." Bruce said.

"A well thought out plan but still has some holes." Aquaman mused from his seat. Some of them nodded in agreement and some of them shook their heads. Lex might be a genius and prepared a hard task to occupy them but Bruce can easily remedy that. He can easily think of several solutions and contingency plans on the spot. He was, after all, a prodigy. Perhaps that was the reason why he sees himself in Lelouch. Even when he was just young, Lelouch showed great potential that easily surpassed Bruce's level. Tactical skills and strategies coupled with his strength that he received from Lex was the one that placed him as the Commander of the Suicide Squad after Amanda Waller temporarily took a vacation and as the head of Military Advisers of the United States of America.

And he's only thirteen when that happened.

"And what of Nunnally?" Barry asked. He twirled his pen so fast on his hand that it became blurred.

Bruce grunted and leaned back on his seat comfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck in stress. "We'll extract her from those son of bitches and have Jeremiah Gottwald cancel the geass placed on her."

For the first time since the start of the meeting, Martian Manhunter spoke, "How so sure are you that Nunnally was geassed by someone?"

"We suspect that Charles altered her memories of the attack in Aries Villa. He must've engrave to her mind that she must stay blind all throughout her life. It is not psychosomatic just like we have first concluded." Clark answered. After hearing Charles engraved Lelouch's mind with false memories from the tracker with a bug that was embedded on Lelouch's neck, their theory about Nunnally being geassed became strong on his and Bruce's mind. They kept the recording of the incident hidden but informed the rest of what happened. They'll lose their morale, especially Diana and Barry, if they heard what had transpired on Lelouch's and Charles' reunion. It was hard enough to restrain themselves to go to Lelouch's dimension to help the poor kid and they do not need someone losing their control and temper.

Diana inhaled deeply to contain the rage she feels boiling inside her. She slammed her fist down the table, hard enough to dent it. "I told you! We should've done this from the start. Now look at what's happening!"

"That's what we all wanted, Diana," Bruce stood from his chair and faced Diana with fury in his eyes that matched Diana's. "Even if we wanted too, Lelouch told us to never interfere unless he told so or we see something wrong with him."

"Did he finally asked us for help?" Aquaman asked, breaking the tension between Diana and Bruce.

"No." Bruce shifted his gaze to his comrades, "It was the latter."

They looked at each in confusion. They honestly don't know what Bruce was talking about. Well, except for Martian Manhunter for he understood the meaning behind what he said.

"It has started to unlock itself?" He asked incredulously. He guessed that Lelouch's superpowers will unlock itself when he was old enough to control it fully.

"Oh, shit," Hal and Barry said together after decoding what Bruce said with the help of Martian Manhunter's words.

"Yes. We suspected it was because of his erratic emotions as of late that his power became unstable. His powers were now showing though it was weak compared when he was still a child, it was still powerful enough. His power has become stronger the more he aged. He was a ticking time-bomb, one that will cause massive destruction if he can't control it. Add to that that he was only sixty-five percent completed from what I have gathered on Lex's data." Clark explained.

Diana leaned back on her seat languidly, "So, if Luthor gets his hand on Lelouch, then no matter how much he wants to stop his powers,"

"He'll never be able to contain it." Bruce finished her sentence. He sat back on his chair and rubbed his forehead languidly.

"Meaning, if one of those motherfuckers managed to tick him off bigtime, then his powers will take ahold of his mind?" Barry asked.

Silence filled the room as Barry awaited Bruce's reply. Clark, seeing that Bruce was now distracted because of his thoughts, chose to answer Barry's question. "If you put it that way, then yes. But if his emotions were to trigger his full powers, we can still reason with him and calm him down. If it's Luthor…" he stopped, taking first deep, necessary breathes to calm himself, "I honestly don't know if we can still see him as Lelouch. We don't know if we can still reason with him when that time comes."

Bruce inhaled deeply before taking over, "After he was abducted by Lex, he said to me, 'If I were to come to the point where I can't handle my powers and you cannot calm me down no matter how much you try, then kill me. I don't care who's going to do that, it can be you or Clark, I won't harbor any hard feelings. Just, please, kill me, stop me from becoming the monster that Luthor envisioned.'"

* * *

 **Ikebukuro Station**

 **1330 hours (1 hour and 30 minutes after the Shirley incident)**

"You must be Jeremiah Gottwald." A black man wearing a trench coat and a fedora hat stopped Jeremiah on his tracks. He eyed the man suspiciously before he revealed his built-in blade from his arm.

"No need to be hostile, Mr. Gottwald. I have come to help you." His eyes narrowed at what the man said. "Who are you?"

He man smiled gently and extended his hand for a hand shake, "I'm Floyd Lawton but you can call me Deadshot."

He eyed his extended hand skeptically before extending his own and shaking his hand. Dropping his hand back on his side, he studied the calm man in front of him. He came to the conclusion that this man was dangerous from what he can see outside. "What do you want?"

"Me and my team was sent here to help our boss temporarily before our superiors arrives. They instructed us to guard him from the distance and eliminate every possible hindrance without getting on his plans, and to contact you, Mr. Gottwald."

"Why me?" Lifting his hand with the extracted blade out of his body, he brought it in front of him and readied to attack just in case the guy decided to kill him.

"Because you will bring us to our boss, Mr. Gottwald. You know where he is." Deadshot made no move nor even flinched when he saw Jeremiah's move.

"Who's this boss of yours, Deadshot?"

Deadshot grinned and his reply surprised Jeremiah, "It's Lelouch. He was our boss."

Jeremiah lowered his blade in surprise with what Deadshot said. "You are not with the Black Knights."

Deadshot grinned and nodded to Jeremiah. He took off his fedora and placed it against his chest while looking around them. "We should get out of here. People are everywhere and some might be listening. Do you know a place where we can talk without prying ears?"

Jeremiah nodded and walked off with Deadshot following his lead. They reached an abandoned building in a ghetto and went inside after they have made sure to secure the area.

"So, Prince Lelouch was your boss?" Jeremiah beat around the bush and questioned the strange man immediately as soon as they entered.

Deadshot pulled the lone chair inside the room they were in and sat on it. He looked Jeremiah in his eyes before answering his question, "Yes and he still is. He became our commander when Amanda Waller, the one who made our group, decided to take a break. He was assigned by the government to replace her although he's always in the frontlines to battle with us."

"I don't understand. He said he don't want the empire to find out that he was still alive but how come he's working for it?" Jeremiah asked aloud. He was very confused at the moment and every single information that this Deadshot guy spewed only made it worse.

"No, no, no, Mr. Gottwald. Not your government. Our government, the United States of America." Deadshot said.

Jeremiah searched his mind for a country called United States of America but he can't come up with results. The only familiar word he can come up was the word 'America' because it was a continent. "This government of yours, where's its location? Because I honestly don't know a country with that government."

"It… does not exist in your world, Mr. Gottwald." Deadshot said making Jeremiah's eyebrows rose in amusement. "I came from the alternate version of the Earth where Holy Britannian Empire does not exist and only United States of America on its place. Although USA is much smaller than Holy Britannian Empire and USA doesn't conquer countries. USA was located on your Area One."

Jeremiah's lip twitched before he let out a loud laugh complete with snorts and tears. He brushed the tears of mirth on his eye before composing himself. "Okay, I'll play with you. Tell me, how come Lelouch became your commander if he's on our world and not to this 'USA' of yours?"

Deadshot, amused with Jeremiah, smiled widely and said, "Simple, he came to ours."

* * *

"They've already sent the Task Force X." Mercy Graves grimly announced the bad news to Lex. He was busy staring at the green rock in front of him that he failed to notice her and the bad news that she brought.

"Oh, right." He turned to her. "Have they intercepted the coordinates?"

Mercy was hesitant to answer because she was sure that it will make him angry despite the fact that he should be happy because she managed to get the Joker out of Arkham Asylum and recruit more men to carry out the retrieval operation.

"They did not manage to intercept the coordinates nor locate the signal, sir."

Lex rubbed his hand across his forehead, showing that he was not pleased with the failure. "Tell me at least one good news, Mercy. One good news."

"I managed to get the Joker out of Arkham Asylum and recruit Bane, Clayface, Deathstroke and Scarecrow. They will make a great addition to the retrieval team."

However, Lex was still not pleased with the good news. "Still not enough, Mercy."

He walked to his desk, poured himself a red wine and downed it without pausing. He was starting to get impatient because of the negative results that comes back to him whenever he tries to find out the coordinates to Lelouch's dimension. Yes, a new pet project of his was already running but it was not much to take his mind off of the failed missions.

' _I should've made a replica of that serum!'_ He thought angrily.

But his anger dissipated when he thought of something.

' _Replica?'_ Then his thoughts drifted to Mercy's new recruits. _'Clayface… That's right!'_

"Ah, Mercy?" The said woman was confused with Lex's sudden change of emotions but she passed it off as another of his bizarre moments. "Would you mind bringing Joker and Clayface here? I have a very important mission for them."

* * *

" _Who are you, anyway?! You don't know what I'm fighting for and don't pretend that you understand!"_

" _I've seen worse, Kururugi Suzaku… and I know that that plan of yours, to change the system from within, will become a failure."_

" _By the way, I am Batman. Never forget that."_

 _-Kururugi Suzaku and Batman (The Conflict at Hiroshima)_

* * *

 **NOTES**

1\. Luthor's recruits (as of now) are Deathstroke, Clayface, Joker, Bane, Scarecrow and Reverse Flash. He will still recruit some but it will be named in the later chapters.

2\. The DC characters' appearance will resemble their DCEU counterpart. Meaning Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern and so on, will be Henry Cavill, Ben Affleck, Gal Gadot, Ezra Miller and Ryan Reynolds respectively (Ryan Reynolds was Hal Jordan in the Green Lantern movie).

3\. If they don't have their DCEU counterpart, just imagine their animated or original form.

4\. The last part of this chapter WILL happen.

A Merry Christmas to all of you!


	5. Turn 4: Task Force X on the Move

Turn 4: Task Force X on the Move

* * *

" _Zero? That dude suddenly vanished! The world has no idea what he has been up to and where he went."_

 _-Jimmy Olsen_

* * *

"Do ya' think Deadshot's managed to convince that cyborg punk?" Digger Harkness, a.k.a. Captain Boomerang, asked to the hooded figure beside him. He was a big, muscled man that wields boomerangs, hence the name. He was also a shitbag with head full of air and has fetish with pink unicorns.

"Dunno." The hooded figure was Killer Croc. He has a skin disease that made him look like a crocodile. He was a monster from the perspective of the people he came across with and they made sure to treat him as one and he didn't mind it. Killing and eating people was his passion after all.

"Oh, c'mon guys! Don't be so pessimistic! Just sit back, relax and wait for him. He might've convinced that cyborg to help us as we speak." Harley Quinn said mischievously while twirling a lock of her hair. She was a psychiatrist in Arkham Asylum that was assigned to observe the Joker before she was pushed down into a tank full of chemical by Joker that turned her into a psychopathic bitch. She didn't mind it anyway.

Their team leader, Colonel Rick Flag, observed the three with irritation written across his face. He honestly didn't know why he didn't drop this group long time ago and went on his merry way. They only caused him headaches and pain. "Will you three just shut up?"

Beside him, Katana readied her sword just in case Rick told her to end this three. However, Rick held up his hand halting her.

"You're mean." Harley pouted and crossed her arms across her chest. Rick sighed in relief when silence filled the group. His communicator beeped once which indicated that there's a message before Deadshot's voice blared out of the thing, "He wants to meet all of us first."

"We'll be there." He agreed and turned to his companions, "He wants to meet us, let's go!"

Deadshot was in a ghetto based on his tracker. If they moved in fast pace, they'll be there in ten minutes' top but seeing as they're still in the city and many people would be suspicious of a large group moving in a fast pace, they needed to slow down their pace just until they can get away from the city and away from many people.

A car honked startling Rick out of his thoughts. He looked around and was bewildered when he saw Harley in a car that was obviously stolen. He watched helplessly when she waved a hand and sped away from them.

* * *

A set of loud footsteps alerted the duo, making them ready their weapons: Jeremiah with his blade and Deadshot with his Glock. They cautiously inched their way towards the door and almost died of heart attack when it flung opened revealing a girl in a long trench coat.

"Harley! Are you going to kill me with a heart attack?!" Deadshot exclaimed and lowered his gun. He took a deep calming breath to compose himself before turning to the other startled man. "Sorry 'bout her.

"Why, hello to you too, Deadshot!" She addressed her comrade and turned to face the other man, "And you too, Jeremy!"

Jeremiah flinched when he heard what she called him. "Wow! So you really are a cyborg!"

Deadshot took the Harley's bat out of her hands, thinking that she might strike it to the poor man just to prove that he's really a cyborg. Knowing Harley, she might just do that.

"You're like Cyborg though he's far more advanced than you." She said after she studied her like what a predator did to its prey. She even circled him with her hands cupping her chin like she was an inspector studying a mysterious case. "Tell me, can you hack computers with your thingy?"

Deadshot face-palmed in embarrassment at what Harley said. Jeremiah, on the other hand, resisted the urge to do what Deadshot did and just settled in clearing his throat and blushing.

"O-Of course not. I can't even hack computers." Jeremiah replied and almost shouted in relief when a group of people, possibly Deadshot's group, entered the room saving him from embarrassment caused by this Harley. The leader of the group, from what he can observed, turned towards him and extended his hand for a shake which he returned. He was calm, authoritative and he stands proud showing that he was a soldier from just a first glance.

"Colonel Rick Flag, Suicide Squad's field leader. Nice to meet you, Mr. Gottwald."

Jeremiah's eyebrows quirked in amusement at their squad's name. "Suicide Squad, huh?"

"Yeah. Good name, is it? Much fancier name than that Zero Squad." The big man, beside the hooded one, snickered.

"And much cooler." From what Jeremiah observed from this Harley, she's a psychopath with penchant for killing people and totally enjoys it. And she seems like a bitch, not that he'll admit it to her.

"Anyways, this is Captain Boomerang," he pointed to the big man that was holding a pair of metal boomerangs. He seems to be competent in the battlefield but he has shown that he was a complete idiot from the way he moves.

He gestured next to the large, hooded figure, "This one's Killer Croc."

When Killer Croc dropped his hood, it took all of Jeremiah's efforts not to scream in surprise because of his looks. With a face like a crocodile's paired with sharp teeth and menacing eyes, who wouldn't?

"Ugly, isn't he?" Harley stated bluntly. Killer Croc growled once at her before replying, "I'm beautiful, we all are."

Harley snickered loudly at what Killer Croc said. Snorting, she crossed her arms and leaned forwards to him. "Believe in what you say, Croc, but you're still ugly on the outside."

"Why you, little shit?!" Killer Croc made a move to tackle Harley to the ground and strangle the lights out of her but before he can advance to her, he was stopped by Deadshot and Rick and Katana pulled Harley away from the three. Jeremiah just stared bewildered at the group and wondered how the hell Prince Lelouch managed to lead this group of uncivilized people.

"Enough!" Rick roared in anger and took out his phone that was used as a triggering device for the bomb placed on the necks of the stupid felonies. His thumb hovered on their pictures and that made Killer Croc stopped from struggling. "Piss me off again and I'll blown your fucking necks. Capiscè?"

The squad, aside from him and Katana, gulped nervously and nodded their heads slowly. They knew he was not bluffing; the blackened picture of Slipknot was the evidence of that. They don't want to end up like Slipknot with an exploded neck.

"Good." Rick cleared his throat and turned to Jeremiah, "And this is Katana. She wields a Soultaker blade so be careful with her. You get killed by it, you're trapped in it."

Jeremiah eyed the Japanese woman with a mask on her face, the symbol of Japanese flag on it. He turned to Rick and said, "You think she won't rebel against you now that she saw what her country has been in the hands of Britannia?"

Katana smiled softly at the man in front of her. Having read Jeremiah's profile, she knew that he once held a grudge against Japanese, or rather, Elevens and the entire Numbers because he was in the Purist Faction. As much as she wants for her country in this dimension to be liberated from the claws of Britannia, it was wrong for her to get involved in their affairs. "I'd rather not get involve with these kind of things."

Jeremiah's left eyebrow rose slightly in blunt curiosity but never said a word, ending the subject of possible rebellion of Katana. He turned to Rick and addressed the field leader of the Suicide Squad, "How are you going to maintain Prince Lelouch's safety with just your guns and grenades?"

Deadshot smirked and said, "I never miss." He cocked his gun, aimed it out of the window and shot a bird that was flying a hundred of meters away from them. He turned to Jeremiah who was looking out of the window with mild curiosity showing on his face.

"That's it?" Jeremiah pointed out of the window to emphasize his point, "That's what you can do to protect His Majesty? You're making me laugh here!" Jeremiah guffawed loudly. Harley snickered and turned to Killer Croc, "I wonder what he'll say if he found out what the Justice League can do."

"You can't stop a knightmare frame with just a mere gun of yours no matter how sharp you are! Heck, even an outdated Glasgow can win against you!"

Deadshot scratched the back of his head in irritation and faced the still-laughing ex-Margrave. "Our orders were to keep Commander out of harm and intervene if needed be until the Justice League gets here and the rest of the job is upon theirs."

Jeremiah stopped laughing and narrowed his eyes towards Deadshot. Seeing his serious face, he turned towards Rick and said, "So, tell me about this Justice League. What was their connection to Prince Lelouch? Are they capable of defending him?"

"They are very capable of defending him. They can easily kill the Emperor in a second actually. As for his connection to the Justice League, I only know Lelouch was an Honorary member."

"In a second flat? I'll be the judge to that." Jeremiah snickered and motioned for them to follow which they did. "If you're going to guard my liege, you might as well stay in Ikaruga. Don't worry about hiding there, they don't have much of a security there."

* * *

Shirley stared at Lelouch with baffled expression on her face. One minute, Lelouch was telling her about their first day on the other dimension he was talking about. Then he became silent after a few seconds.

She, sometimes, don't understand him.

"What's the matter, Lulu?" Her question seemed to snap him out of his daydreaming and back to the reality. He stared at her with wide eyes, as if he saw her as a ghost. He opened his mouth several times to reply but none came. After swallowing a couple of times, Lelouch managed to regain his bearings. "Um, nothing, Shirley. I just remembered something."

Shirley narrowed her eyes at him but said nothing. There were times that she just wanted to smack his head against a wall or anything hard, just for the sake of getting some sense to his supposedly – intelligent mind. A two or three smacks were going to be fine but she does not think Nunnally will be happy with what she'll going to do to her brother.

* * *

Nunnally vi Britannia was not having a good day. Or rather, night.

Her advisor, the ever-antagonist on her life from the moment she was assigned to guide her, Miss Lohmeyer, decided that it will be a good time to hold a meeting in the middle of the night where most people are now currently taking their rests and goodnight sleeps. No matter how much she plead to her to reschedule it for tomorrow, she would not budge and still insists that they hold the meeting this evening. She even told her that most people are not owls that are awake in the evening and just let them (and her) sleep peacefully for the night. After pleading to her for what looks like, a hundred times over, she still insists the meeting.

Therefore, after her incessant pleadings (and death threats, I might add), Nunnally concluded that Miss Lohmeyer was actually a night owl with the feelings of a boulder. One might argue that the boulder does not feel any emotions but that is the only thing she can come up to compare Miss Lohmeyer with.

A boulder with no feelings and hard to push over from its place.

Dressed in her night dress, Nunnally went to the conference room where she can hear the yawning, moaning and slurred ranting of the members of the meeting. She even heard Gino snoring loudly and Anya's slur of, 'Let me sleep or I'll kill you for waking me up', before yawning heavily. Several people followed suit and she can't help but to yawn also.

She also can't help but to think that this was her brother's fault.

If only he came back from where he went, then the child wouldn't kidnap her and she's still with her brother and away from Miss Lohmeyer and her ruthless schedule of meetings.

'I'll smack his head over and over again on a cement wall when he comes back for abandoning me.' Nunnally sighed before yawning again.

'This will be a long night…' She thought, resigned.

* * *

Lelouch felt a chill run up his spine. He knows that somewhere out there spewed some death threats to him. Possibly not for him, but for Zero.

Letting his thoughts away from the mundane matter at hand, he thought about the more pressing matter.

' _They deployed the Task Force X! Shit, shit, shit!'_

The constant beeping of the tracker implanted deep within his wrist signaled that a person (or more) from the different dimension is close within his range. The tracker was made specifically for him so that if Luthor managed to construct his own dimensional travel device and travel here to get him, he can manage to have an opportunity to escape from his grubby hands and contact the Justice League.

The tracker was designed with different colors for signaling. Blue is for the Justice League or someone from there, brown for Luthor, green for someone in the US Government, yellow for the unknown and red for the Suicide Squad, a pseudonym Deadshot made for the Task Force X.

' _I told them to never interfere! What have they done?'_ Lelouch's mind came up with several plans to get them back to their dimension. While he appreciates the thoughtfulness of the Justice League and the US Government, particularly Amanda Waller and the US President, they will only become a hindrance and might thwart his future plans. The accident with Shirley caused by Rolo was enough of a hindrance and might have purge his plans if Shirley was killed if not for the fact that she lived.

He, for one, doesn't know what he might've done if Rolo succeeded to kill Shirley. Probably lose his mind because he lost one of the most important person in his life.

' _Or worse, unleash the beast inside of me…'_

"Lulu?" Shirley placed her hand on top of his to get his attention. Shifting his gaze to her, Lelouch smiled weakly that convinced Shirley that it was only forced. She decided to ask him about the problems that nags his mind later and focus on the matter at hand. "Why'd you stop? What happened?"

Lelouch scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. He eased his laughing when he saw the narrowed eyes of Shirley. "Okay, okay. I'll tell you about it."

Shirley leaned closer to hear what he has to say. She felt the wound on her stomach tighten with pain but she never minds it.

"But not now." Shirley's face etched with disappointment when she heard what he said. She expected him to tell her now so that she can help him with his problems.

"It's late, Shirley. You might want to get some sleep now. I promise I'll tell you sooner." Lelouch leaned and kissed her forehead, lingering a little longer than usual, before bidding her a goodnight. She managed to utter a small goodnight before he stepped out of the room.

* * *

Lelouch stared at the closed door of Shirley's room a little longer before he walked away. He doesn't think it is right to leave her defenseless with Rolo around after what he did to her.

' _And speaking of the devil…'_

Several steps ahead of him was Rolo. Clad in his Ashford uniform, one might think he was an ordinary student but it was just a disguise to hide his true intentions.

Upon seeing him, Rolo ran towards him. "Nii-san!"

Lelouch's first thought was to push him away when Rolo hugged him but he needed to continue on his own disguise to avenge what he did to Shirley. It will be hard to pretend a caring big brother to Rolo after the events that happened but he needed to.

"Where have you been, nii-san? You should've waited for me in Ikebukuro." Rolo said once he unlatched himself to Lelouch. Mustering a small smile, Lelouch tapped Rolo's shoulder once and said, "I was looking for you too earlier. I must've escaped before you went in Ikebukuro."

Lelouch continued to walk away from Rolo but before he can manage to get far away from him, Rolo shouted. "What about Jeremiah? Where is he?"

Lelouch stopped and tilted his head slightly towards Rolo. "Jeremiah's on our side now."

Rolo opened his mouth to reply and question his decision to take Jeremiah as one of the member of the Black Knights. After all, Jeremiah was the only one who can cancel any type of geass, including Lelouch's. It will be a great risk to put him in and he might end up paralyzing the Black Knights if he decided to kill Lelouch. "Nii-san? I think you should—"

Lelouch turned swiftly and approached the boy angrily. Holding the collar of his uniform, Lelouch eyed Rolo angrily and said, "Are you questioning my decision, Rolo?"

A moment of silence past and Lelouch repeated his question but using different words than before, "Are you questioning my capabilities, Rolo?"

Upon seeing his eyes burning with fury, Rolo swallowed and shook his head before replying a muttered, "No."

Lelouch did not let go of Rolo immediately and eyed him for a moment longer. He was searching for something in Rolo's eyes but he didn't know what it was. Finding nothing, he let go of Rolo harshly and continued to walk away from him.

* * *

"What makes you think he knows you are all here?" Jeremiah asked the group in front of him.

They are all currently inside one of the most secured places in the Ikaruga—Lelouch's office. Jeremiah has not seen Lelouch's office from the moment he started serving him and yet here he was, inside Lelouch's office with several slightly unknown people. The fact that they only broke in hurt Jeremiah's big ego.

"Heat-Wave Radiation Scanner and Tracking Device. Implanted deep within Lelouch's wrist, the scanner and tracker was a signaling device that was used to detect if someone from other dimension comes close to him. The small device works 24/7, scanning the people that surrounds Lelouch. If the scanner detects heat-waves like in our dimension or even only resembles to it, the alarming device connected to his spinal cord and ear will set off." Rick explained.

"And its tracking capabilities?" Jeremiah inquired further.

Rick smirked and continued, "The tracker was not using your dimension's technology, so that means it does not use IFFs and can't be tracked with IFFs as well. It can be used and tracked through Global Positioning System, to which was in par with IFFs although it was much more secure. GPS uses the satellite like the IFFs but it was used to track different things, not only in the military."

"Let me clear things up with you," Jeremiah started, "So this GPS was secure, yes?" Rick nodded.

"It can be hacked?"

"Hacking was different in your world than ours. In this dimension, hacking a system was difficult for you people because you have to undergo through several security softwares and disable it manually. In ours, there are many softwares that can disable a security software with lesser manual or even give it a virus that can totally disable several systems without being detected for short time."

"Virus?" Jeremiah asked.

This time, Deadshot was the one who answered. Being an assassin earned him some techniques to disable several security systems. "Virus is a program designed to infect a system and replicate it or destroy it completely. It can be transferred through networks and drives as long as it can maintain stable connection to the system."

"Technically speaking, anything that was ran by softwares can be hacked with virus, even the knightmare frames?" Harley spoke the question that was forming in Jeremiah's mind. She was completely uninterested in the topic before, for she was busy reading a magazine about Britannian politics on the desk of Lelouch's. He was astonished when she asked the question because he thought that she was not listening.

Rick opened his mouth to answer but someone beat him to it. "Technically speaking, yes."

They all looked at the entrance of the office and saw Lelouch, standing rigidly and his face with expressionless emotion. The Task Force X quickly stood up and saluted upon seeing him and his emotionless face. They all learned it the hard that when Lelouch wears his infamous emotionless mask, something bad would happen to them afterwards.

And they have a feeling that this won't be a good reunion.

"Well, well, well. Look at the young general. Finally gracing us, eh?" Captain Boomerang, the ever douchebag he is, said to the grumpy-looking Lelouch.

Lelouch ignored the verbal jab Captain Boomerang sent to him. Instead, he turned to Rick and sent a glare before talking to him. "What are you all doing here?"

Captain Boomerang smirked at him. "Aren't you glad that we're here?"

Lelouch sent a glare towards Captain Boomerang but never said a word to counter Captain Boomerang's verbal jab.

Flag, seeing that Lelouch was getting irritated at Captain Boomerang, decided to speak up. "We were sent here by the Justice League and US Government to guard you until the Justice League can come here, sir."

"I supposed they're busy?" Lelouch sat down on his chair after he shooed Harley from her spot. He fixed the stack of papers on his desk that was messed up by Harley.

Flag was ready to deliver the news of Luthor to Lelouch. "Luthor was on the move."

Lelouch stopped fixing the mess on his table when he heard what Flag said. His hands clenched as memories of torture from Luthor's hands started to invade his mind. The tortures that he received before he was subjected to Luthor's mad science experiments. His breaths became quicker and shallow as memories continued to bombard his mind. The metal pen that he was holding snapped into two; its ink was slowly running out of the pen and unto his hand.

Flag and the rest of the people inside the room eyed the broken pen warily. They knew Lelouch can't do that unless his strength was slowly starting to get back.

"Your Highness?" Jeremiah approached the shocked Lelouch. Luckily for him, Lelouch snapped back to reality and his little display of weakness was over. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Jeremiah." He brushed off his concerns and turned to the Task Force X.

"If you're going to guard me, you might as well do something to help me. Tomorrow, we will annihilate the Geass Order and I want you to help me." He turned to Captain Boomerang, Killer Croc and Harley. "You three will going with me in Chinese Federation to help me. While the rest of you will observe the Black Knights in the background. I have a hunch that they're slowly becoming suspicious of me. It won't take no time for someone to turn them against me."

Lelouch stood up and approached the door. He turned around to look at the Task Force X and said, "Now, where is your base?"

* * *

" _So… let me get straight with you. Zero, no, Lelouch will become like that colossal, weird-looking thing if he will be provoked or if a mad scientist finishes him off?"_

" _The way you put it disturbs me, Tamaki."_

" _Sorry, Batman."_

 _-Shinichiro Tamaki and Batman (Unexpected Betrayals)_

* * *

 **NOTES**

1\. Zero Squad does exist. It was an elite guard of the Black Knights under Zero's direct command. Kallen was its captain.

2\. Miss Lohmeyer was a character in Code Geass. She was Nunnally's aide and adviser.

3\. Lelouch and Shirley was the first one to leave in Ikebukuro. Rolo stayed to find Lelouch, not knowing that he already left.

4\. Yes, Lelouch's powers were slowly showing.

5\. In Code Geass universe, computer viruses might not exist because of the fact that Britannia's weaponries were made by advanced technology and were programmed like the computers.

6\. The Geass Order's location usually changes with each leader. It was located in Chinese Federation in episode 14 and should be relocated in EU but Lelouch managed to annihilate it before they can even launch.

PS: I won't be posting until after January 2, 2017 because I will be out of town. This chapter should've been posted in January 1, 2017 but I decided to post it now.

Advance Happy New Year to y'all!


	6. Turn5: Forgotten Nation Rises From Ashes

Turn 5: The Forgotten Nation Rises from the Ashes

* * *

 _"'_ _What if Earl Benjamin Franklin never betrayed his country? What if he stayed true and loyal to his comrades? We never thought about this possibility until the United States of America and those inhuman creatures made themselves known to this world.'"_

 _-Schneizel el Britannia, Second Prince and Prime Minister of Holy Britannian Empire (HiTV's special documentary of United States of America)_

* * *

"This is the official base and the command center of the United States Army in Area Eleven, formerly known as Japan." Flagg announced to Lelouch and Jeremiah as he gave them a tour around their base. "The US dropped us here for the sake of saving time and avoiding to stray away from Horai Island."

They round the corner and the command center was immediately seen. Hundreds of military personnel were immersed in their jobs of monitoring and securing the entire island through the highly-advanced technology and the remaining military personnel were guarding the entrance and exit points of the large room. The whole command center was basically the heart of the operations where the decisions (tactical, strategical or diplomatic wise), issuance of orders, reporting from different divisions of the military that was currently assigned for the mission, total numbers of the many important factors in military and world-wide monitoring of the military through internet, both in their world and the one they were currently in.

"The total number of troops, military personnel and civilians that the US Government was close to three thousand per branch of US Military. All in all, the US just took the point five percent of its whole military men to transport here but there are reserved troops just in case many died in upcoming battles that we will surely have." Flagg turned from the command center to Lelouch and stared at him, waiting for his response. Jeremiah, on the other hand, was still staring at the highly-advanced command center of the US Army, his mind was blank as he took in the possibilities of how Britannia will usher in a new age of technology if they managed to get ahold of the information regarding the US' technology. Britannia's technology was highly-advanced in its own field, of course, but seeing that US leads in the other field, Britannia will surely try to even with US.

Lelouch never said anything. Instead, he walked away from them to head to the hangar bay of the aircrafts to inspect if they are capable of going against Glasgow and Sutherland types of knightmare frames. Jeremiah and Flagg was following him silently.

They entered the hangar bay were thousands of combative and non-combative aircrafts, tanks and other land defense and attack weapons were currently residing in. The said weapons were being prepped by soldiers by arming it with missiles, bullets and other deadly weaponries on the US' arsenal. The others were busy conditioning their bodies by doing exercises and simulations on several jet simulators to improve their skills and eye-hand coordination.

"Pray tell me, why did the US sent the several GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast and Nuclear Warheads?" Lelouch looked at Flagg dead in the eye, his face was expressionless.

Flagg shifted from foot to foot as uneasiness began to wreck his once confident self. "The US deemed it necessary to ship here because of the fact that you might use it someday if desperate times ever come. However, they said that you should mind the civilians if you ever plan to deploy it."

He continued to stare at Flagg for several seconds before turning around to address the confused Jeremiah.

"I've sent several Black Knights, with Xing-ke leading them, to Chinese Federation to handle to problem there. We will rendezvous here tomorrow morning to start the operation to annihilate the Geass Order. You'll return here, Jeremiah, to undergo cybernetic enhancements to replace some of your parts with advanced weaponry. Flagg will assist you and will train you afterwards."

"So… he'll be like Cyborg?" Flagg said, gesturing to Jeremiah.

Lelouch shook his head. "Yes, but Jeremiah will be more on weaponry and he won't have a 24/7 access to the internet. We'll just add special and advanced weaponries but he'll still be a geass canceler."

"Okay. I'm sure I can handle it." Flagg looked at the pair one last time before heading out to inspect the submarines and war ships that were docked at the makeshift harbor of the abandoned island.

* * *

"Lieutenant GQ," Lelouch greeted as soon as he entered the boardroom of the command center with Jeremiah following him. The lieutenant stood from his seat and saluted at Lelouch to which he saluted back. Jeremiah knew the military protocol about salutes (even thought their salutes were different) and proceeded to salute to the young lieutenant.

"You don't need to salute to me, Mr. Gottwald." GQ mused after he brought his left hand down.

Jeremiah's lip twitched as he fought against frowning at the lieutenant. "It's military protocol."

GQ smirked, "Touché."

"Anyways," Lelouch cleared his which snapped the two out of their talk, "I'm sure you've been informed about Xing-ke and Tohdoh's mission in Jiangmenguan; Asahina and Hong Gu's mission in Kazakhstan and Minase and Sugiyama's mission in Kengyo, right?"

GQ nodded in affirmation.

"I want you and your team to go there and play as the third party. Don't affiliate your team to any forces but instead, distract them and show them our military prowess without announcing who we are. Prepare them for our continuous onslaught. Understood?"

GQ smirked confidently. "Understood, General."

Lelouch's lips twitched before his trademark smirk showed on his face. "Godspeed, Lieutenant."

GQ saluted one more time before exiting the boardroom and leaving the two inside. Jeremiah, on the other hand, stared at Lelouch in disbelief.

"Is it really necessary to destroy even your own comrades?"

Lelouch looked at Jeremiah, "We need it to show that we meant business and we are not to be mess with."

"And besides," he added, "They're really not my comrades."

* * *

 **August 6, 2018**

 **08:00**

"You are all free to take whatever weapons you want and you are all free to kill whoever you want." Lelouch said as he observed Harley, Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang while they were gathering their weaponries and other stuffs.

"But keep in mind that if you find someone who's important to the Geass Order, especially V.V., you'll bring them straight to me. Don't let someone from the Black Knights see you and if they did, don't let them escape."

Lelouch took one last glance at the three before heading to the Shinkiro. After he flew away from their base, Lelouch contacted Rolo on his phone to inform him about the plans in regards to annihilation of the Geass Order.

"Nii-san? Where are you? I've been looking for you!" Rolo exclaimed.

Lelouch sneered at the phone when he heard Rolo's disgustingly worried voice. He was, however, glad that he seemed to never found the bomb that he planted on the Vincent.

"No need to worry yourself, Rolo. I just have to attend to some important things that's why I'm not there." He replied stoically which Rolo did not noticed.

"You should've brought me with you, Nii-san. What if something bad happened to you? What if—"

Lelouch never heard the end of what Rolo was saying for he dropped the call in irritation. He observed the phone and almost immediately, Rolo's name flashed on the screen.

"Little piece of shit!" He muttered in irritation before rejecting the call and stashed it away on the secret compartment in the cockpit of the Shinkiro. He relaxed on his seat as he continued to fly the Shinkiro but an income transmission from C.C. caught his attention.

"What is it, C.C.?" He greeted as soon as he saw C.C.'s expressionless face.

"Would you mind explaining to me why Shirley was in your room and looking very much alive instead of dead?"

C.C. expressionless face mocked Lelouch but he brushed it off.

"Why? Are you jealous?" Lelouch teased the witch and smugly smirked when C.C.'s eyes bugged out. He watched in content when C.C started to sputter out excuses to defend herself from his statement.

Lelouch chuckled softly. "Relax, I'm just kidding, witch. No need to stress yourself out. Sheesh!"

C.C. glared at the ex-prince which amused Lelouch more.

"Well?"

That one word reminded Lelouch of C.C.'s pending question and his smile vanished immediately. He just continued to stare at the with on the screen, thinking of possible answers to give to her but he came up with none. Sighing deeply, he decided to tell the truth.

"Rolo tried to kill her, he almost did. She remembered everything that's why I faked her death."

C.C.'s left eyebrow rose in response to his answer. When it came to Nunnally and Shirley (and possibly Euphemia), Lelouch's ability of thinking thoroughly and being reasonable was always being pushed back to his mind, letting his feelings cloud his most important ability.

She can't blame Nunnally, of course, for she was Lelouch's sister and she was his raison d'ê·tre. She was one of the reasons why Lelouch rebelled against Britannian aside from the fact that he wants to know who killed his mother. He was the one who took care of her in the midst of their banishment and the sole reason why he stays sane (as dumb it may sound) and alive.

Shirley, on the other hand…

 _'_ _Why does he always goes soft and lets his feelings run his mind whenever this girl gets involved into something? Unless…'_

What C.C. thought was possible the most reasonable answer she can come up with. She may never know Shirley, when she became friends with 'Lulu', her friendship with him and her personality but she can imagine it happening.

 _'_ _It wasn't far-fetched and Nunnally's the evidence of that.'_

Besides from her, Nunnally and Milly, Shirley was the only one who knew the real Lelouch without her knowing his real identity. This might be the effect of their friendship and the events that took place in Shirley's life last year. Although she might not remember it, C.C. knows that Shirley knows deep down that she affected Lelouch largely than she liked to recognize it.

 _'_ _That was probably what they call true love.'_

* * *

 **Command Center**

 **08:30**

 _"_ _Ace Killer to command center, Ace Killer to command center. We are nearing the location. I repeat, we are nearing the locations. Orders?"_

Lieutenant Birchwood, GQ's friend, was the one that was temporarily assigned to monitor in the command center in lieu of GQ. The latter was currently in Jiangmenguan, leading a team consisting of ten groups with thirty foot soldiers against the forces that was currently battling there. Birchwood happily took his place for the time being because he always enjoyed commanding and strategizing in the field of air force.

"Command center to Ace Killer. Circle the enemy first and take a look at the situation. Get back to me if you have stat of the situation."

 _"_ _Roger that, boss."_ He watched as one fighter plane broke out in formation to circle the enemy while the others climbed up higher in the sky.

While he was waiting for his reply, the lieutenant contacted his friend for update on his mission.

* * *

 **Jiangmenguan**

 **09:00**

Tohdoh watched as two Britannian knightmare frames exploded after his Seidoutou slashed on its mechanical bodies. The pilot of the first knightmare frame was lucky enough to eject before the knightmare frame exploded and engulfed by flames while the second one was not.

 _"_ _Tohdoh, I've cleared my spot."_ Xing-ke's voice erupted from the speaker system of the Zangetsu.

Tohdoh looked around to investigate and found that there were only five more Britannian knightmare frames standing and fighting.

"Five more to go." He replied.

Xing-ke was about to reply when a desperate man's voice interrupted their talk.

 _"_ _W-where the hell did that missile come from?!"_

Another voice transmission that belongs from one of his men came blasting out of the speaker. This time it was a stat-rep.

 _"_ _General Tohdoh, three of our knightmare frames was destroyed by the missile!"_

"What?! That can't be possible!" Tohdoh exclaimed, shock was clouding his emotions.

 _"_ _They tried to avoid the missile but it follows them everywhere they go! It seems like it knows its target!"_

"What are you talking about? There's no Britannian weapon that can create that much precision!"

A crackle blasted from his speaker before he replied, _"I saw it, sir. They tried to—There's another one!"_

Horror coupled with shock started to bombard Tohdoh's emotions as he listened to the screams of agony and horror coming from his subordinates. The one he was in contact with was still alive but he can feel his heavy panting.

 _"_ _It's still following me, sir! I need to—"_ A loud explosion crackled out of the speaker then the transmission was cut.

"Damn it!" Tohdoh slammed his fist on the wall of the cockpit, anger now overwhelming is feelings. Several of his subordinates was killed by several missiles that has accurate precision.

 _"_ _Tohdoh!"_ Tohdoh heard Xing-ke's voice. _"We need help. Now!"_

That snapped Tohdoh into reality. Racing towards Xing-ke's location, Tohdoh contemplated asking his fellow soldier of what was happening in his post.

"What is happening, Xing-ke? Several of my men died because of a simple missile!"

 _"_ _Five my men fall down because of that missile, as well."_

Tohdoh grunted, "Who are we fighting? Is it Britannian forces or your empire's forces?"

A minute passed before Xing-ke answered. _"We don't have that kind of technology nor weaponry. It's impossible for the high eunuchs to fund the research and manufacturing of that kind of weapons because they are corrupt."_

Tohdoh cursed when he saw that his energy filler was only thirty minutes' worth before it shuts down. He needs to change it if he wants to join the battle longer but he runs out of time.

 _"_ _What's this?!"_ Xing-ke exclaimed loudly. _"An outdated tanker with advanced specs was the one behind this attack?"_

Tohdoh reached his destination and saw what Xing-ke was talking about.

A tank, which was pretty much outdated in a war that involves advanced knightmare frames and weaponries, was standing in all its advanced glory. Large enough to destroy a Glasgow and Sutherland type of knightmare frame with long tank gun on its center, two advanced turret flanking on opposite side of the tank and a bizarre style coating its outside. Its long tank gun was focused on the last standing knightmare frame, the Shen Hu.

"It's impossible!" Tohdoh exclaimed. Several foot troops were surrounding the Shen Hu, their unfamiliar but advanced rifles was trained on the nearly-destroyed Shen Hu. Their combat gears were unfamiliar with its design acting as their camouflage.

A sleek, black car with tinted windows entered the scene, its occupants started to fill out. They were low ranking, from what can Tohdoh say, but one stood out.

 _"_ _Alpha, Bravo team, retreat!"_ A bearded man shouted which Tohdoh heard inside his cockpit thanks to his knightmare frame's outside microphone. As soon as he said it, all of the troop soldiers that surrounded the Shen Hu draw their rifles and retreated.

Tohdoh activated the outside speaker of his knightmare and started to question the man.

"Who are you?!"

The man smirked arrogantly before replying. _"You'll know me when the time comes."_

Tohdoh exited his knightmare frame to face the man personally, Xing-ke following his lead. The two walked until they were right in front of him.

"Two of the greatest general of the Black Knights. What an honor to finally meet you two." He said but the two interpreted it as him mocking them.

Xing-ke narrowed his eyes at the man and placed his hand on his sword. "What do you want?"

"Our nation." He simply replied.

"You're Britannian and Britannians took our country yet you act like you're the one that was robbed off of nation!" Tohdoh hissed in anger at what the man said.

"You sure I'm a Britannian?" He smiled softly but still mockingly. "I heard Britannia teaches you their history; you better check it before you talk or shut up at all."

Tohdoh felt his blood rise up in anger as he watched the man smiling arrogantly after he said it. Clenching his fist, he threw a punch to the man's face but the man blocked it by holding his fist open right before Tohdoh's fist connect with his face, making his punch land on the man's fist.

"What—?"

The man retaliated by twisting Tohdoh's fist and his body until the man's back was facing Tohdoh's front. The man elbowed Tohdoh's stomach causing Tohdoh to cough spit mixed with blood. He, then, pulled Tohdoh's arm until he can flip Tohdoh down to the ground on his back.

Xing-ke drew his sword and charged the man but before he can slash his sword to the man, a katana deflected his attack. He looked at the owner of the katana and was surprised to see a young woman with a mask and the Japanese flag symbol on the forehead of her mask.

 _'_ _A Japanese defending a Britannian?'_ Xing-ke thought, surprised.

Tohdoh attempted to stand but unable to because of the pain on his gut caused by the force of the man's attack. He remained kneeling on the ground as he watched in confusion as his fellow Japanese defended the Britannian man.

"Why are you defending that Britannian?!" Tohdoh asked, or rather, shouted.

The woman pushed her hand (the one that holds the katana) roughly, causing Xing-ke to roughly take a step back and land on his behind. She sheathed her katana back on the scabbard that was attached on her waist. She turned around and faced Tohdoh.

"You don't know what I'm doing." She said before walking away.

The man glanced at the two for one last time before following the woman, leaving the two alone with their knightmare frames.

* * *

"Ace Killer, what's the stat?" Lieutenant Birchwood asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

 _"_ _Britannian forces continues to defend their post here, sir, but the Black Knights were slowly gaining against Britannia."_

"Good." Birchwood turned to his assistant. "Tell the Red Iron Squadron to rendezvous thirty degrees south of the battlefield and Blue Gun to the north. Smoke their forces and drop the missiles at high altitude. If there's a knightmare that has flight capabilities, race it up until it freezes at high altitude. Understood?"

 _"_ _Wilco, boss."_

"Ready for firing, boys!"

 _"_ _Eagle One, Missile One preparing for firing."_

Birchwood smiled widely and said, "Fire at will."

He watched as thirty missiles began to drop to the battlefield and explode, taking out large numbers of knightmare frames.

"Good one, boys! Round 'em up once more before going to their hangar."

 _"_ _Roger, boss."_

 _"_ _Eagle One, Missile Two preparing for firing."_

"Take 'em out."

* * *

 **An hour after the US military's attack on Kazakhstan…**

"Good." Lelouch said before dropping the call. He turned and saw Jeremiah and Rolo fixing his props for his call to V.V.

"Nii-san, it's ready." Rolo gladly announced to Lelouch which irritated him.

"Good." He then took a seat in front of a computer. "Let the show begin."

* * *

 _"Tick tock, tick tock! Your time is running out! Be ready or you won't live to see the morning!"_

 _-The Joker_

* * *

 **NOTES:**

1\. In Code Geass universe, Benjamin Franklin was bribed by the Duke of Britannia by giving him the title of Earl. It's the reason why Washington's Rebellion failed.

2\. GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast is the proper name for 'Mother of all Bombs' of the United States. 'Father of All Bombs' or FOAB of Russia was its counterpart.

3\. Scott Eastwood played GQ Edwards in David Ayer's _Suicide Squad._ His character was not in the comics and was only created for the movies but there are several speculations as to who he really is.

4\. The Seidoutou was the Zangetsu's sword.

5\. Li Xing-ke and Tohdoh's mission in Jiangmenguan, Minase and Sugiyama's mission in Kengyo and Asahina and Hong Gu's mission in Kazakhstan was in canon. It was in episode thirteen of R2 and I just stretched the battle to make it a two-day battle for the sake of the story.

6\. A tank in the world of Code Geass is outdated since knightmare frames started its production.

7\. The missile was laser-guided hence its accurate precision.

8\. I don't have enough knowledge about US' military. I only based on researches and movies for reference.

9\. The Justice League will make their appearance in the next chapter.

A massive thank you for those who leaves their reviews! Also, anyone who reviews will get sneak peek of the next chapter. (Anyways, who watched the leaked PV of Code Geass R3?)

Cheers!

(I temporarily changed the rating of this story because heavy violence will start in the middle of the story.)


	7. Turn 6: Unexpected Turn-About

Turn 6: Unexpected Turn-About

* * *

 _"Watch what you're saying, you doofus! This is Deathstroke we're talking about, not Suzaku!"_

 _"Haven't you seen Suzaku's spinzaku or his martial arts capabilities? I don't know who's Deathstroke but you gotta admit he will be nothing compared to Suzaku the Traitor!"_

 _"Deathstroke is a trained assassin and knows impressive number of fighting skills that can put Suzaku to shame. Add to the fact that Hephaestus gave him a sword that can kill gods."_

 _"Oh. Then, Suzaku's beaten to a pulp."_

 _-Lelouch Lamperouge and Shinichiro Tamaki (The Aftermath)_

* * *

 **Watchtower**

 **August 6, 2018 (10:30)**

"Lex is on the move." Batman said as soon as he entered the meeting room in the Watchtower. He just returned from having his nightly runs in Lex's territory in Metropolis.

"He's recruited several of our archenemies—first was the Joker, next was the Reverse Flash and the latest was Bane and Death Stroke. He's making his own Suicide Squad."

He went to the supercomputer located in front of the meeting room. After a few seconds of waiting, the monitor revealed the faces of Lex's Suicide Squad. There was several information on the bottom of it and the rest was all about their status and their powers.

"However, there's still several others that he recruited that we failed to identify. We have a hunch that he'll use them for gathering information."

"Intel said that Lelouch's Suicide Squad has finally secured Lelouch in the Ikaruga… but there is a problem." He stopped for a deep breath and continued, "Several of the Black Knights were having doubts about his agenda. Asahina, for example,"

A picture of a Japanese man with a scar on face and round glasses was revealed on the monitor. Like previously, several information was on the side of the picture. "He's been eyeing Lelouch for several days and suspects something fishy on him. I think he plans to bust him out and tell it to his comrades."

"Aside from Asahina, Chiba and Ohgi were also having their doubts on Lelouch. Those three were the most important in the Black Knights, aside from Lelouch."

"Any word against Lelouch that was from the core members will turn those below them against Lelouch." Wonder Woman piped in. She and the rest of the Justice League has been planning their move to assist Lelouch in his rebellion. They will only assist him in the background and leave all of the work to the Suicide Squad to reduce the fear that the war will instill to the people. If they found out that there are humans that can erase them in the face of the earth, fear will definitely rule them. Charles may use that as a leverage to create chaos upon that world.

Diana, who was silent throughout the whole ordeal, said. She understands the problem Lelouch was currently facing but she can't help but to blame Bruce. This whole mess wouldn't happen if not for him.

 _'If he just gave us permission… that battle's going to last for just a minute.'_ She thought.

"Anyways," Barry started. "I've been thinking about what Lelouch has done in that world and I know it's for the best… but, man! It's like he's doing a genocide there!"

Batman's face twitched and a smile broke out of his half-covered face. He understands his concerns but he must know that in a war, people are really going to die to fight for what they knew was right.

"I understand your concern, Barry. Lelouch's plans was for the annihilation of the corrupts and evils through his unconventional actions and you must know that _I_ am the one who taught that principle."

Superman was not at all surprised at what Batman said, "Figures, Bruce. After all, you were the Dark Knight. You have been on the act of deceiving since you were a child."

"The boy's got potential. It is my duty as his guardian to hone it further. He has no problem with it back then." Batman replied. He took a seat and fumbled with a laptop in front of him. On the large monitor in front of them, an image of Lelouch's biological father and his half-sibling, Schneizel, appeared.

"Seems like this Schneizel guy has been eyeing the throne for quite some time now." Superman said. The folder in front of him showed all of the information they knew about the two. "And I have a hunch that he'll be the one who might turn the Black Knights against Lelouch."

"That might be. Although this Schneizel has an edge, he still can't touch Lelouch without a permission from Charles. He might be the prime minister but Charles is still the emperor, a title that was much larger than being a prime minister." Aquaman spoke for the first time since the beginning of the meeting.

They all nodded at what Aquaman had said, except for Batman.

"I made contact with Flag earlier and he said that Harley Quinn, Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang will be joining in annihilating the Geass Order and the rest will spy upon the Black Knights and mess their operations. The three will not use Akatsukis but will stay hidden on the prying eyes of the Black Knights."

Superman rubbed his chin in thought. He has an idea for the upcoming battle that they would surely miss but he knows that it might pose a great risk to transport it especially know that they know that Lex was guarding them like a hawk. "Do you think we can send the prototype?"

"The Merlin? Good heavens, we can't!" Green Lantern exclaimed. "It was large enough to be concealed much less transport it to another dimension without detection from Lex!"

"Green Lantern's right." Batman remarked. "The Merlin's large enough and it will consume great energy to transfer it. Lex can easily detect it and block the transfer, even possibly take it from us."

Wonder Woman looked up from the file she was reading and retorted, "I think it might be a good idea to transport the Merlin if Lex managed to locate Lelouch's dimension. He hasn't known of this prototype and possibly surprise him."

"I agree with that," Flash said, "Lex won't be expecting us to make a mecha for Lelouch for he knows that Lelouch will not allow us. Additionally, it will be the most powerful mecha in Lelouch's dimension, if we finally transport it, giving Lelouch the upper hand against Britannia's Lancelot, Mordred and Galahad and even his Black Knight's Zangetsu, Shen Hu, Guren and Shinkiro."

"Furthermore, its own nuclear capabilities can wipe out the size of two football fields even though it's only mini nuclear that were installed in the prototype. Britannia might be planning to deploy their FLEIJAs sooner but we still get the last laugh because even though it was almost in par with nuclear, it was still not strong enough to level it nor surpass it." Aquaman stated.

"Hm. We might be getting a little too 'trusty' with this prototype but I knew for sure that it can finish several troops at once when we deploy it. I, however, won't allow to transport it later than we should. If Lex finds out Lelouch's location, we will immediately transport it and prep it for Lelouch's use." Batman answered. Even though he was one of the developers of the prototype, he can't allow himself to trust the metaled armor to defend his adopted son from various attacks—both from Britannia, Lex and possibly the Black Knights. He, himself, knows that a true fighter cannot trust a metal to finish his own battles.

* * *

 **Naval Shipyard, Gotham City**

 **13:39**

Batman jumped from the roof of the abandoned shipyard and landed on its cracked cement floor with ease. He cautiously observed his surroundings as he searched for potential threats that was lurking on the dark shadows of the shipyard. When he deemed it safe, he reached for his utility belt and took out a flash.

"HAHAHA!"

He swiftly turned around with a batarang on his hand when he heard an eerie laugh echoing on the walls of the dark shipyard. A figure ran to his right and he immediately acted by throwing the batarang. When he flashes the flashlight to the direction it went, he saw it attached to the wooden post, missing the figure.

Another figure ran to his left and he, again, threw a batarang which also missed the figure. It went on like that for two minutes until Batman hit a stretched rope with his batarang. Nothing happened for a few seconds until a large log appeared and came towards him like a wrecking ball. His reflexes reacted quickly, enabling him to dodge it quickly but he was hit by another log when he jumped off to his left. He crashed to a large wooden post before he crashed on the cement floor, instantly knocking him out in the process.

A figure approached the knocked-out Batman with a rope on its hands. He crouched down and quickly ties Batman against the wooden post before standing and reaching his phone on his pocket.

"You have the green light, Joker."

A loud laugh blasted on the phone's speaker, _"Good job, Two-Face! I was worried you can't pull it off but that was at first."_

Two-Face grunted and replied, "You clearly don't know me well, Joker, if that's what you can say."

"Anyways," he cleared his throat and glanced at Batman, "should I kill him?"

 _"Nah, just leave him there. If you kill him, I won't have a playmate anymore."_ Joker whined.

Two-Face's frowned (as far as his burnt half face can go). "Are you sure?"

 _"Yeah, now, get out of there before he wakes up!"_ And with a click, the connection was cut.

* * *

 **Batcave**

 **14:30**

Batman revved his Batmobile as he entered the Batcave where he instantly saw Alfred, his trusted butler, waiting for him.

"Mr. Wayne." He greeted and offered the cup of coffee to Batman which he gladly took. After he donned the cup full of coffee, Alfred handed him some pills for headache which he also gladly took.

"Another mission gave you a headache, sir?" The butler politely asked as he put aside the empty cup of coffee. He returned to take a look at the partially destroyed Batmobile.

"This is the fourth time this week that you brought home the Batmobile destroyed. If not destroyed, partially destroyed." Alfred glanced at his liege to observe his face, "And it is only Wednesday."

"I have many criminals on my tail, Alfred. They always want to kill me." Batman took of his cowl, revealing the face of Bruce Wayne.

"Are you always on the mobile that they have the need to destroy it?" Instead of answering him, Bruce turned around and started working on his supercomputer.

"What of Lex Luthor? I know he has been collecting his group to retrieve Master Lelouch."

Bruce stopped working on his supercomputer for a while before going back to where he stopped. He took out a flashdrive and inserted it to the USB port.

"What are you doing, sir?" Alfred approached Bruce and glanced at what he was working. He squinted his eyes in suspicion when he saw what he was doing.

Bruce continued to transfer files on to the flash drive but addressed Alfred, "I am going to make a dimensional travel device in order to go to Lelouch's dimension. However, I—"

"…You need the coordinates?" Bruce turned around and found himself facing the barrel of a shotgun that Alfred was holding. Alfred's index finger was hovering on the trigger.

 _'You think you can fool me, impostor?'_ Alfred thought.

"Who are you?" He watched as the impostor abandoned his work to face him. His face started to morphed into clay and Alfred can only think of one person who has an ability to shape-shift using its clay body.

"Clayface!"

Alfred fired successful shots at Clayface which he only absorbed it but it was enough time for Alfred to hide behind the Batmobile. Clayface fired the bullets back to where Alfred hides but the Batmobile took the grunt of it. Alfred knew his shotgun can't do any damage to the creature so he tossed it away and decided to rummage the back compartment of the Batmobile for weapons that he can use. He fortunately found the Remote Electrical Charge gun and proceeded to load it.

While Alfred was loading the REC gun, Clayface took the opportunity to finish the transferring of files into a flashdrive which he successfully finished. He now only needs to buy time so that he can escape before Alfred manages to stun him. He found the opportunity when he saw a smoke grenade laying a couple of meters away from him. He quickly took it and took off its safety pin.

Alfred, having finished the loading of the gun, stepped out from his hiding spot to charge at the creature but halted when he saw Clayface threw a smoke grenade. The smoke instantly clouded his sight the second it detonated near his feet. His irritated eyes and roughed coughs became hindrance to his mission but he still continued to search for Clayface.

While the butler was having trouble with the smoke, Clayface took the opportunity to escape using the Batmobile. He revved it and sped away with the flashdrive on his hand, clutching it tightly as if his whole life depends on it.

As a last effort to prevent Clayface from escaping, Alfred hurried towards the supercomputer and closed off all of the possible exits that Clayface might use. It will be his last resort to prevent him from delivering the flashdrive containing the files and coordinates of Lelouch's dimension to Luthor but he knew that the method will fail because the exit gates were too slow to close. He helplessly watched as the Batmobile passed the closing gates and head out towards Luthor.

The GPS installed on the Batmobile showed that Clayface was headed to the city but it disappeared before it can arrive. He guessed that Clayface left the Batmobile and hitched another car or there is a get-away vehicle that awaits him.

Alfred decided to contact Bruce to inform him about what happened in the Batcave and to make sure that he's not dead.

"Master Bruce? Are you receiving me?" He called for almost three minutes until he finally got a response from Bruce.

"Alfred?" Alfred heard Bruce groaned.

"Where are you?"

He heard a light scuffle in the background as he awaited Bruce's reply. "I'm at an abandoned naval shipyard. I got an intel that there's a drug cartel here." He decided to leave out the fact that he was out for a few hours.

"Why?"

Alfred inhaled deeply before telling his liege about the bad news. "We have been infiltrated, sir."

"What?!"

* * *

 **Unknown location**

 **30 minutes after the infiltration in the Glass House**

Clayface dropped the flashdrive on Luthor's palm and moved back to where he was standing before. Luthor, on the other hand, eyed the flashdrive with an evil smirk on his face.

"Good job, Clayface!" He praised the clay creature. "I was not sure you'll be able to carry out the mission but you just showed that you can be trusted. I'm impressed!"

Clayface smirked and arrogantly replied, "It was not hard, really."

"Oh?" Luthor raised one of his eyebrows in question. "Then I am sure you can carry yourself out in your next mission."

He put the flash drive inside his pocket before proceeding to give the details to Clayface.

"I want you and the others to get Lelouch Wayne for me. I'll send you to his dimension with the help of this files and coordinates… and this." He pointed to a large machine linked to numerous computers.

"This machine will bring you to Lelouch's dimension. Your group will be divided into two: one will draw the attention of the enemies and the second will move quietly. You are all allowed to cause massive attacks against civilians and military alike."

Clayface looked at the machine for a minute before looking back to Luthor, uncertainty was showing on his face. "And what will we get from this?"

Luthor spread his arms wide, "This world, of course!"

Clayface thought about it for a minute before smile laced his clay lips. "I like the idea. Count me in!"

* * *

 **Oa**

"It's been a week since we saw you, Hal. What's up?" Kilowog, one of Hal's friends in Green Lantern Corps, said to him before hitting him on his back as a sign of greeting.

Hal grunted in pain but never retaliated. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. The League's been busy and I can't leave the work behind."

"Why? The League's got a new enemy or somethin'?" Kilowog sat in front of Hal.

"No. It's about Lelouch."

Hal watched as Kilowog's eyes lit up in excitement, a rare event for him. He knew of Kilowog's friendship with Lelouch and his fascination to Lelouch's anti-hero attitude. Add to the fact that Kilowog sees Lelouch as a boy who has potential to lead.

"What about him? He's back? I wanna see how the boy's doing!"

Hal rubbed the back of his head and sheepishly answered, "Well, no. He's still in his world."

"Then what is it?" Kilowog inquired.

"Remember when I told you about his rebellion?" Kilowog nodded in affirmation. "The League decided to finally go to help him."

"Let me guess," Kilowog leaned in closer and whispered, "his power's coming back?"

"Wait, how did you…?" Hal asked his friend. Kilowog smiled but never answered Hal's question. Instead, he said, "Can I tag along?"

"I don't know. Batman said that several of the core members have to remain and I'm included. It sucks, you know?"

"Well, I'm not a core member so…" Kilowog drawled the last word before exploding into laughter which irritated Hal to the fact that Kilowog might tag along.

"Don't worry. I won't tell to anyone about it since I reckon it would be a sensitive subject for the others." He continued to laugh after that, clearly enjoying the fact that Hal won't be coming with the rest of the League to fight.

Hal looked around in embarrassment and saw John Stewart entering the room. Delighted to his other friend, he called him to talk.

"Hey, John!"

John's head snapped towards Hal and was shocked to see Hal in Oa considering that the Justice League was busy from what he heard.

"Hal, I thought the Justice League's busy?" He sat beside Kilowog. "What brought you here?"

"Apparently, the League's preparing to go to Lelouch's dimension but he," Kilowog pointed to Hal, "won't be coming with them. He's staying here with the rest."

"Batman said I can go." John blurted out. "He said, 'Since you're not a core member, you can go.'"

"Aww, man! It sucks to be left behind!" Hal complained.

"Anyways," John changed the subject, "how's the rookie?"

Kilowog was the one first one to answer since he was the one handling the rookie's training, or poozer's training.

"The poozer's got a lot of will. She's headstrong, I can guarantee you that."

"Am I the only one that thinks that she's not suited to become a Green Lantern?" Kilowog and John's head snapped towards Hal with questionable looks on their face.

"I mean… she's a gentle soul. She's seen enough destruction and being a Green Lantern means that she'll see more destruction."

* * *

 **Batcave**

 **15:27**

Superman surveyed the minimal destruction in Batcave in disdain. He was upset that the files and location regarding Lelouch's dimension was stolen by none other than Clayface.

"Do you know who set you up in the shipyard?" He turned to Batman who was working on his supercomputer and assessing the files that was stolen.

"It's Two-Face." He said and played a video clip he took from the video recorder that was attached to his suit. It showed Two-Face tying up Batman against a wooden post after he lost consciousness due to his impact on both the wooden post and the cement floor and him talking to Joker on the phone.

"Two-Face and Clayface were some of Luthor's unknown recruits," he clicked another file on the supercomputer, "and Scarecrow finally joining in on the fun."

"It's bad enough that the Joker, Deathstroke and the Reversed Flash was in Luthor's team and now, even Scarecrow and Clayface was now included."

"I'm now preparing the machine that will send us to Lelouch's dimension," Superman can hear the 'but' and he was not wrong when Batman continued, "but it will take time because I have to collect great amounts of energy."

"Why not use the government's machine? They were successful, as I recall." Superman asked.

It took a minute before Batman answered. "Because it can only hold limited energy to transport close to fifteen hundred men and their equipment, weaponries and fighter crafts."

"Aside from us, I plan to bring the additional troops, equipment, fighter crafts and the Merlin with us. The Merlin alone can consume great energy that's why I have to plan this carefully," he stopped for a second and then continued, "or else we'll not reach our destination."

* * *

 _"The enemy of my enemy…"_

 _"I won't be your friend… if that's what you're implying."_

 _"You didn't even let me finish."_

 _-The Joker and Kururugi Suzaku (The Aftermath)_

* * *

 **NOTES:**

1\. The Watchtower that I will be using in this story is the one that Superboy Prime destroyed. As much as I wanted to use Tower of Justice in _Justice League: Gods and Monster_ , it will not suit as the Justice League's base of operations in this story.

2\. Schneizel cannot touch Lelouch without Charles' permission. I know it sounds unbelievable but Charles _did_ love his children but he has a unique way of showing it. Proofs of it are the banishment of Lelouch and Nunnally from Pendragon to Japan to escape V.V.'s sight and Charles' disdain in regards of V.V. sending an assassin after Lelouch. (This nothing compared to the atrocities he committed against the world and his children.)

3\. Yes, The Merlin is a knightmare frame of Lelouch. Developed by Bruce Wayne, Alfred Pennyworth, Silas and Victor Stone, and J'onzz J'onzz, this knightmare frame would serve as Lelouch's personal knightmare frame after the Gawain was destroyed. Due to its size, the decision to transport the machine to Lelouch's dimension was on hold until they can find steady source of energy (which they did).

4\. Joker was insane (he really is, anyway) not to kill Batman given the times that he had a chance… but he chose not to since he knew that he (his character as The Joker) would vanish and he'll go back to his old, normal life… as normal as it can get. (It has happened before!)

5\. It was not impossible for Alfred to know right away that Bruce (Clayface) is not really the real Bruce given that he was already under the Waynes when Bruce was born and he became Bruce's guardian and parental figure all throughout his life. Add to the fact that Clayface was a horrible actor.

6\. Clayface's weakness focused mostly on liquids (specially the solvents) and anything that can harden his clay body (just to name a few). It is also said that electricity can knock out Clayface for a while.

7\. About the whole energy thing… I based that on _Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths_. I only based on the concept, not literally the whole since they used Johnny Quick's speed to travel.

Who do you think is the rookie? Anyways, as like what I have said in the last chapter, those who will give their review will get a sneak peek! This time, the sneak peek will about the possible characters (heroes and enemies alike) that will travel to Lelouch's dimension. I will only give a clue, though.

Cheers!


	8. Turn 7: Assault on the Geass Order

Turn 7: Assault on the Geass Order

* * *

 _"_ _If you are the agents of justice, then I am the agent of chaos!"_

 _-The Joker_

* * *

 **Geass Order Base**

 **10:00**

 _'_ _All pieces are falling into their right places,'_ Lelouch thought, as he looked around the destruction the Black Knights was causing inside the Geass Order. _'Soon, revenge will be served.'_

He opened the communication between the Black Knights and said, "Don't let a single person escape! Remember, this is a Britannian facility where they breed their soldiers!"

He heard a beep on his phone and he immediately closed his communication between him and the Black Knights to answer the call. When he saw Captain Boomerang's name on the screen, he hesitated to answer the call because he have a hunch that he was only calling just to annoy the shit out of him. Nonetheless, he still answered the call despite his initial hesitation.

"Hello."

 _"_ _Yo, 'Louch!"_ Captain Boomerang's irritating voice greeted him as soon as he answered the call.

"What do you want, douche-bag?" He shot back.

 _"_ _Woah, woah… Woah! No need to be angry, brah_." Captain Boomerang said which irritated Lelouch more.

Lelouch huffed to control his anger. "What do you want?"

There was slight scuffle on the other end of the line before he replied. _"There's a big gate outta here. Dunno if there's somethin' on the other side 'coz it's close."_

"Hang on, Boomerang," he opened the Shinkiro's on-board communicator and contacted C.C. to ask about the gate. "C.C., what is the purpose of the gate on the northern part?"

 _"_ _The Twilight Door? Why do you ask?"_ C.C. replied, showing slight surprise on her voice.

Lelouch pinched the bridge of his nose in agitation, "Would you just answer the damn question, C.C.?"

 _"_ _Don't be impatient, boya."_ C.C. reprimanded Lelouch but he paid no mind to it, _"The Twilight Door is only the opening of a Thought Elevator. It has no real function."_

"Are you sure?"

C.C. narrowed her eyes in irritation to the boy. _"Do I look like I'm not sure?"_

Lelouch studied the serious face of C.C. through the screen of Shinkiro's on-board communicator and found nothing but complete seriousness and irritation. Despite her questionable loyalty towards him, he still trusts the witch to complete her tasks and carry out their plans.

"Just… stick to the plan. Okay?" He said before ending the connection and went back to Captain Boomerang.

"Boomerang? You still there?"

There was a crackle on the communication before sounds of gunfire coming from the knightmare frames was heard.

 _"_ _I'm quite busy out 'ere! What do I do?"_

"Just stay near that gate, Boomerang. I have a feeling that V.V. will go there after the fight."

Lelouch heard Captain Boomerang grunt before he finally answered. _"Okay! Just inform me if the kid's headin' here!"_

* * *

"We need to destroy that knightmare frame!" Lelouch shouted to his comrades through the intercom. He was getting more and more frustrated with the fruitless attacks he was campaigning against V.V. and the fact that V.V. managed to destroy many knightmare frames on his squad. He considered going out there to finish the battle since he has enough power to do so but he decided against it. He cannot let his enemy know about his true power and its extent.

 _'_ _I need to do it now!'_ He thought while staring at the triggering device for the bomb that he planted on Rolo's Vincent. _'It's now or never!'_

"Rolo!" he said, "You need to get your Vincent near the Siegfried!"

A few moments before Rolo answered. _"Nii-san! I can't get pass but I'll try!"_

He watched as the Vincent battled against the Siegfried with the Vincent as the underdog. The Vincent has taken too much damage on its system from the blunt attacks of the Siegfried. It even managed to detach the lower half of its body to the upper half, almost hitting the part where Lelouch secretly attached the bomb. He waited for a few moments before he saw Rolo attaching the upper functioning half of the Vincent against the Siegfried.

"Good job, Rolo. Now," he said. His thumb was already hovering on the button of the triggering device and only moment' away from erasing Rolo on the face of the earth.

 _'_ _Shirley will now be avenged, Rolo,'_ He thought.

Lelouch thumb was already pressing lightly on the button when a missile hit the unprotected part of the Siegfried. Bombarded with continuous attacks from his comrades and from where the missile originated, the Siegfried never stood a chance as it slowly began to malfunction and the system began to collapse. The Vincent, on the other hand, was detached from the its hold on the Siegfried when the missile went in contact with its target. It was barreling straight on the surface of the earth but Rolo immediately got in control of its system causing Lelouch to grunt in irritation at the wasted opportunity to kill Rolo.

"Who attacked the Siegfried?!" He opened his Factsphere sensors and immediately saw Cornelia standing beside a destroyed Gekka with a partially destroyed tank gun attached to it.

"Jeremiah!"

"On it, your highness!" He saw Jeremiah's Sutherland Sieg flew down and stopped meters away from Cornelia. He quickly acted when he saw the Siegfried's attack on Cornelia by taking her away from the battlefield where she can be safe… temporarily.

"Harley?"

Harley immediately responded. _"Yes. What'cha want?"_

"Take Cornelia from Jeremiah," he stopped for a second before continuing, "and keep her unconscious."

 _"_ _Okidokie!"_

"Captain Boomerang, V.V.'s down. Wait there for him."

 _"_ _I can see the kid crawling to get 'ere! It's ma lucky day!"_

 _'_ _Good. All is going according to my plan.'_ Lelouch thought.

* * *

 **The Twilight Gate**

"And where do ya think yer goin'?" Captain Boomerang said as he snatched the back of V.V. clothes. As an attempt to escape from Captain Boomerang's firm grasp, V.V. started to thrash against him despite the injuries that rendered him weak and slow.

"Who are you? Let me go! Let me go!" The kid had the audacity to punch Captain Boomerang on his face even though his little fist was bleeding and broken.

"Would you mind not hitting ma face?! Argh! This is why I hate kids!" He said as he tried to suppress V.V.'s attacks on his face.

The sound of a gate opening startled Captain Boomerang out of his problem. He looked on the Twilight Gate and saw it opening slowly. He immediately hid behind a large rock debris, with his hand clasping V.V.'s mouth shut firmly.

"So this big guy is Lelouch's father."

He observed the emperor from his place and found out that he shares many characteristics with his son. His emits an aura of authority and intelligence, which Lelouch have. The only thing the emperor lacks of is charisma. Perhaps it is because Lelouch was younger than his father was and his actions were more charismatic compared to his father's stoic one.

He watched as the emperor's narrowed eyes roamed around the darkened room, probably in search for his devious brother.

"Brother!" The emperor's deep and authoritative voice boomed across the debris-filled room. No response came.

Captain Boomerang's focus was on the emperor and he did not feel his hand was slowly slipping its firm clasp on V.V.'s mouth. The latter took the opportunity to bite the hand of his captor with all of his remaining strength.

"AHHH!" He dropped V.V. on the floor, which made him lose conscious because of the force of his drop.

The emperor's head snapped towards the source of the yell and saw an unfamiliar man holding his partially conscious brother.

"You!"

Captain Boomerang stiffened when he heard the emperor's voice. He slowly turned around to face the ferocious emperor and readied himself to what awaits him.

"Oh, shite."

"Who," he step down, "are," he step towards Captain Boomerang until he's in front of him, "you?"

The emperor grabbed Captain Boomerang's collar with his large hands and hoisted him up.

 _'_ _For a man who's in the sixties, he's pretty strong.'_ Captain Boomerang grunted.

"So," Captain Boomerang said with difficulty, "yer Lelouch's bastard father?"

The emperor glared at him before punching him on his face. Captain Boomerang flew a couple of meters away because of the force of the punch he received. Blood dripped on his nose and he wiped it on his sleeve. The taste of blood on his mouth gave Captain Boomerang euphoria and strength as he faced the one who punch him.

"Lelouch," he panted, "informed about yer little power. What is it?"

He took his sunglasses from his coat and put it on.

"Ah, yes! A geass! Ye have the ability to erase a person's memories."

He, again, reached inside his coat and took two boomerangs.

The emperor, on the other hand, looked absolutely furious and surprised that Lelouch told him about his geass.

"Ye think ye geass holders were the superiors in this world," a step forward, "well, yer all wrong!"

Captain Boomerang threw his two boomerangs in the air and smoke immediately filled the room. He grabbed the unconscious V.V. and hoisted him up on his shoulder before running away from the coughing emperor as fast as he can.

"K.C.? Meet me at the entrance. I've got a package!"

There was a crackle before, _"Wilco."_

Captain Boomerang turned around the corner and immediately saw Killer Croc running up ahead him. He sped up to catch up with him even though his legs was aching in pain from pushing his limits. After all, he was not physically fit.

"What happened?" Killer Croc smashed a man on the wall as he run.

"Met Lelouch's father. The bastard has one heck of a punch!"

They rounded a corner and saw three men several meters ahead of them. Captain Boomerang grabbed a boomerang inside his coat and threw it towards the three. It slashed the necks of the three men and they immediately dropped on the floor, their blood spilled stained the rough floor.

"Oh, shite!"

They came to a halt when they saw a knightmare frame collecting the dead bodies lying on the floor. The pilot never noticed them, thankfully.

"We're gonna wait fer that knightmare to go before we escape. We will be dead if they spotted us 'ere." Captain Boomerang said to Killer Croc as he observed the knightmare frame before them from their hiding spot.

Killer Croc, on the other hand, noticed something.

"The kid's healing."

The thief looked on the healing V.V. and saw his once fatal wounds were now healing at a slow rate.

"Haven't you heard what Lelouch said earlier?"

"No." Killer Croc deadpanned.

Captain Boomerang face-palmed in irritation, "This kid's immortal!"

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

 **10:17**

For so long, Katana was comfortable to take off her mask and show her face to the world even if she was comfortable to have a mask to hide her identity. She never had a problem in associating with other people and do tasks with them.

However, this time was an exception.

Since she is a Japanese, Katana volunteered to go undercover on the Black Knights. Posing as a new recruit, Katana's goal was to report any unusual happenings among the various ranks of the Black Knights and now their strengths and weaknesses. Flagg and his men were spying on them in background, guarding her from the suspicious Black Knights.

Of course, it will be hard for her. She's a Japanese and the Black Knights were mostly composed of Japanese. They were her fellow compatriots and she's patriotic; the mask bearing the symbol Japan was the evidence of that.

However, at the same time, she was not one of them.

She was born in different Japan; a Japan who made mistakes at first, destroyed by a weapon of mass destruction but now leads a peaceful life. This Japan was far different from where she lives.

 _'_ _This Japanese… they suffered much,'_ she thought as she looked at her surroundings and saw the working Japanese, _'but all of it will be useless if they were to betray Lelouch.'_

"Hey, you!" A woman she recognized as Chiba approached her with a glare on her narrowed eyes. Behind her was Tohdoh sporting several bruises on his face.

 _'_ _They're now here.'_

She can hear Flagg's voice through the small bug attached to her ear.

 _"_ _Be careful there, Katana. He might recognize you from earlier."_

"What division are you in? Why are you not working?"

The way Chiba approached Katana irritates her. She's not polite and her attitude shows that she can't be trusted.

"I'm a new recruit from Shinjuku Ghetto." She willed herself to look meek and weak to let them think that she can be easy to fool and manipulate.

Tohdoh pipped in, "Even if you are one of the new recruits, you have to start working. Many works are pending because of the people like. Japanese are not lazy!"

 _'_ _And Japanese are not bossy.'_

She was about to reply when Tohdoh spoke again.

"Wait a minute…"

All of Katana's senses were on high alert as she watched Tohdoh staring at her face as if he's trying to remember something.

 _'_ _Oh no…'_

"Have we met before? You seem awfully familiar."

Katana kept her face expressionless when she answered but in the inside, she's panicking. "No, sir."

Tohdoh observed her face for a minute more leaving with an irritated Chiba on his tail.

 _"_ _That was close."_ She heard GQ speaking. _"You have to be more careful."_

"Where's Flagg?"

 _"_ _Flagg was doing something. He's unavailable right now."_

Katana inhaled deeply and looked around her to confirm that she's still alone. "Tell him I'm ready to deliver the package."

* * *

 **Oa**

"Guy Gardner will temporary replace you, Hal Jordan, as the Green Lantern in Sector 2814. You have been given permission to interfere in Earth 11 where war has been plaguing the planet since its earlier days."

Shocked faces greeted the Guardians of the Universe when Appa Ali Apsa announced the news about their decision involving Hal Jordan's petition to go with the Justice League on a mission to another dimension. They never thought that he would get permission since the Guardians never liked to let a Green Lantern intervene with the rise and fall of empires. For them, sending a Green Lantern to help restore peace to an empire means going out of the Guardian's safe zone.

"We would like to privately talk with Kilowog, John Stewart and Hal Jordan about their mission. Please go back to your missions now." Ganthet said and he watched as they left one by one to return to their tasks.

"You never let a Green Lantern intervene with this type of war." Hal commented.

Ganthet was the one who answered, "Because there will be dire consequences if we continue to ignore the war that rages in the Earth 11. We have let this far too long."

"Why only now?" Hal questioned.

Ganthet closed his eyes. "We thought that the humans of that dimension will stand up against a tyrant empire and succeed but none did. There were some, but only minimal and were later defeated."

"Until Lelouch vi Britannia decided to fight against the oppressive empire his father has built." Basilus continued.

"So, you wanted to us to aide Lelouch in fighting against his father?"

Ganthet nodded.

"We also believed that an impending doom will come upon Earth 11 that involved Lelouch vi Britannia but we are not sure about what it is."

* * *

"Tomar Re!" Tomar Re turned and saw Ch'p flying towards him.

"It's your turn to guard the Red Sun."

Tomar Re stared at the small creature in confusion. "I thought the changing of the guards won't happen until after Hal leaves?"

Ch'p blinked, clearly worried about what Tomar Re has said. He did not received the news.

"The Red Sun's slowly turning into yellow. The Guardians has placed twenty more Green Lanterns to guard it. They also changed the schedule of guarding. Haven't you heard about it?"

* * *

 **Geass Order Base**

"What the hell?! Why did you do that?!"

Jeremiah was helping Princess Cornelia to stand when Harley Quinn smacked the poor princess on the head with her mallet. The said princess was now out cold on the floor.

"Ooopsie!" She twirled her mallet, nearly hitting Jeremiah on his face. "Lelouch told me to take Cornelia."

"That does not mean you have to knock her out!" Jeremiah's face was red in anger and his veins were popping on his temple and neck.

"Well, Lelouch did said to keep her unconscious." She smiled innocently.

Harley grabbed Cornelia's left hand and started to drag her with difficulty.

"Why you!" Jeremiah tried to lunge at Harley but his communicator beeped, signaling a call from his liege. He decided to take the latter and confront Harley later.

"I really need to work out," Harley grunted as she dragged the poor princess to where the rendezvous point was. She heard the princess grunt in pain when she hit a rock.

"A deep sleeper, eh?"

* * *

 _"'_ _United we stand; divided we fall' principle contradicts the whole 'Divide and conquer' strategy."_

 _-Lelouch vi Britannia_

* * *

 **Notes:**

1\. The apparent change of my writing style when Captain Boomerang was speaking was because of the fact that he is an Aussie. I don't know any slangs from Australia but I try to write Captain Boomerang's accent as hard as I can.

2\. I believe Charles can throw a decent punch.

3\. Some might wonder why Katana was now in the Ikaruga since she just appeared in Jiangmenguan. I intentionally made that way since she was the only possible member of the Suicide Squad to enter the Black Knights' territory because she is a Japanese.

4\. Sector 2814 was where Earth belongs based on Green Lantern comics.

5\. Tomar Re and Ch'p were canon characters in Green Lantern. Tomar Re was a fish-like alien and Ch'p was a squirrel.

6\. Ganthet, Basilus and Appa Ali Apsa were also canon characters.

Next up will be the confrontation of Suzaku and Lelouch in Kururugi Shrine. Stay tuned and leave your reviews!

Cheers!


	9. Turn 8: Two Steps Ahead, Four Steps Back

Turn 8: Two Steps Ahead, Four Steps Back

* * *

 _"_ _No chance for those who were unworthy."_

 _-Lelouch vi Britannia_

* * *

 **Geass Order Base**

 **12:00 (Thirty minutes after the battle ceased)**

C.C. entered Lelouch's temporary headquarters in Geass Order and saw him sitting on a chair. He was writing something but she cannot see it since his back was facing her. She tried to sneak up on him but before she can see take a step forward, he spoke.

"What do you want, C.C.?"

She let out a squeak of surprise before trying to compose her serious self.

"What are you writing?"

Lelouch never bothered to face her when he answered. He just continued to write. "None that concerns you."

She decided to find out for herself even though she knew that Lelouch does not want her too. She can easily get what he was writing and Lelouch won't have the strength to get it back since he was such a wimp.

"Just let me take a look at it," she snatched the book.

C.C. flipped to the first page of the book but before she can see the things he wrote there, a hand snatched the book from her back.

"Who-?" She turned and saw Lelouch glaring at her.

 _'_ _Wait! He saw sitting in front of me earlier!'_

"When did you move?"

C.C.'s heart raced and sweat started to come out of her skin as she continued to stare at Lelouch's murderous eyes. She never felt fear for such a long time she existed and now was the first in many ages.

"I told you it doesn't concern you, right?" He growled in anger.

She never saw Lelouch like this. She never saw the monstrous side of his.

"You owe me big, Lulu-boy!"

An unfamiliar squeaky voice reached C.C.'s ears that snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked towards the source of the sound and found a woman dressed provocatively as a clown. The woman was literally dragging a knocked-out Cornelia behind her.

"This woman's heavy and I haven't had exercise for ages!" The woman collapsed dramatically on the floor after she dropped Cornelia's hands.

"Don't be dramatic, Harley." Lelouch commented dryly.

Harley shot a glare towards Lelouch but never retaliated back. Instead, she stalked towards the woman behind Lelouch, C.C.

"So," she started when she came face to face with her, "you're C.C.?"

C.C. narrowed her eyes at the woman. She doesn't met her once in her long life and yet she knew her name. Perhaps Lelouch told Harley her name since they knew each other, right?

"Who are you?"

The witch examined the face of the clown. Large (to the point of ridiculously large) smile, twinkling eyes and a slightly red blush on her ridiculously pale (or white) face. This was clearly weird and C.C. thinks that she might be insane from what she can see.

 _'_ _Who've you allied to, Lelouch?'_

"No need to doubt me, Ms. Witchy. I'm an ally!" The woman has the audacity to clasp her hands together and slowly bat her eyelashes at her as if she was trying to seduce C.C.

C.C. turned her attention to Lelouch who was watching the whole scene in amusement. "Who is this, Lelouch?"

He reconsidered telling her all about the Task Force X but decided that it was not worth it. Even though she has been his close ally for quite some time, Lelouch still hasn't trust her completely because she still doesn't told her why she was helping him. It was even more questionable because she never said what she wants in exchange of the power she has given him.

"C.C., this is Harley." Harley waved at the witch with a large smile plastered on her face.

"Harley, this is C.C."

"Nice to finally meet the woman who gave Lelouch a power to manipulate a person! Can you give me one also?" C.C. doesn't know any reasons why Lelouch would tell this piece of information to Harley but whatever it is, it is clear that he trusts this person.

"Don't mind her, C.C. She's just sick in the head. A psychopath." Lelouch said. "She has even been confined to an asylum before."

He turned to Harley. "Please tell Killer Croc and Captain Boomerang to evacuate the battlefield and return immediately to the base. The attack to Jiangmenguan and Kazakhstan has been successful and their assistance will be needed by the entire Force."

"What about this woman?" She gestured to the knocked-out princess.

A frown etched across Lelouch's face, instantly dampening his already pissed-off mood. He can always locked her up in the make-shift prison in the base but he knows that she'll make a good blackmail to Schneizel.

"I'll bring her with me to Ikaruga. Take V.V. instead."

C.C. tried to piece the information Lelouch relayed to Harley but she knows none of them. The names 'Killer Croc' and 'Captain Boomerang' was unusual for aliases but she suspects it was intentional. Maybe they were Britannians who were fighting beside Lelouch and against their country hence their ridiculous aliases. A probability without evidence but she has to come to conclusion about it.

"Okay, General Lulu-boy!" She picked up the still sleeping Cornelia and proceeded to exit the room.

"Don't call me that! How many time times do I have to tell you that?" He shouted.

Harley heard his retort and shouted back, "Yeah, yeah! Whatever you say, Lulu-boy!"

Lelouch turned to C.C. "I'm heading back. I still have to announce the formation of UFN to the world."

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

 **16:40**

Zero pushed the cart full of food towards his room. When the automatic doors closed, he took off his helmet revealing the face of the former eleventh prince of Holy Britannian Empire. He just finished announcing the world about the formation of the United Federation of Nations, which was both successful and unsuccessful.

Successful because many countries have allied with them and unsuccessful because he saw his bastard of father. He should've expected him announcing a war against Black Knights but he never thought he would really do it and risk Britannia's supremacy to the world. Charles' overconfidence was justified but it won't help him win the war with the Task Force X and the Justice League on his side.

Perhaps, he should finish it now? Fly to Britannia, barge into his throne room and torture the heck out of him until he get can get the satisfaction and revenge he craves for so long.

 _'_ _I have to do it the right way. Besides, no pain, no gain,'_

"Shirley?" He called out to the empty room but no response from her. He decided to check out his bedroom if she was there.

He was not wrong.

On his bed was the lithe form of Shirley, currently resting peacefully. From what he can see, she has been out for hours and might wake up anytime soon. He decided to leave her be to let her continue to rest. However, when he was exiting his room, his phone vibrated.

He never bothered to see the caller ID for he knew who was calling.

"Hello?"

A minute or two passed before he received a response from the other line.

"Flagg,"

 _"_ _We're doing a surveillance outside. Seems like Asahina's now suspicious of you. He found bloodstains on Kinoshita's mech, an evidence that something happened."_

Lelouch rubbed the bridge of his nose in worry. He admits it was rather… careless of him not to fabricate a lie to give to his men. Telling them that the purpose of the mission was to annihilate the breeding facility of supposed 'super-soldiers' of Britannia was enough to arouse suspicions from his men.

 _"_ _I've informed Katana about it. She said she's now attending to it."_

"Tell her to finish delivering the package first before attending to it."

 _"_ _Okay. Anything else?"_

Lelouch remembered Schneizel's warnings about the thing he calls FLEIJA from their video call last night with its developers. It worries Lelouch and he knew he has to find out about it.

"Infiltrate the Avalon and find out all the information about their weapon called FLEIJA. I have a bad feeling about it."

 _"_ _I'll handle it."_ Flagg said. _"Anyways, what will I do with V.V.? Captain Boomerang passed the kid to me but I can't handle him right now because I have to attend to Jeremiah."_

"Let GQ handle it. He knows what to do to him."

* * *

"Lulu?"

Lelouch stopped eating the pizza he was holding and looked at Shirley. Her face shows worry that makes him worry too.

"What will you do to Suzaku?" She inquired.

Lelouch don't know what to say because he knew he don't know what to do with him. Suzaku was one of the people that he trusted in the beginning but he failed to keep the trust he gave. He betrayed him and allied himself to his enemies—an action a true friend never, ever would do. When Suzaku betrayed him, he just showed Lelouch that he was not the right person to trust and to befriend. Many people has betrayed him and he doesn't care about it.

However, that doesn't mean that he's not hurting.

"I honestly don't know, Shirley." He did not faced her because he was ashamed. For what, he didn't know.

"He betrayed and humiliated me, Shirley. He was the one who brought me to the emperor. He was the one who watched as the bastard wiped all of my treasured memories: the memory of my mother, of Nunnally and of all the things I've come to love!" He said, extreme emotions was flowing out of him, the justification of the pain he felt at the hands of the man he called 'father'.

Shirley let him speak freely. She was not going to interfere for she wants him to release all of his pent up anger, frustration and sadness that he can never let out to anyone. Not even to his own sister... and the boy he calls 'brother'.

"Even knowing the reason why I fight this battle... even knowing the _whole_ reason why I hated the emperor, he still fought against me. A treachery I won't forgive even if he is my best friend!"

Shirley has seen enough; heard enough.

"You know what I told Suzaku before Rolo shot me?"

Lelouch's angry face morphed into confusion and irritation.

"It is that nothing is unforgivable." Shirley stood from where she sat and approached the young man. She hugged him and whispered on his ear, "You may not forgive him now but there comes a time when you will. It may not come fast but it will definitely come."

* * *

 _'You may not forgive him now but there comes a time when you will...'_

Shirley's words echoed on his head as he stared at Suzaku's number on his phone. After contemplating the words she said, he decided that the best course of action would be calling him and meeting up to talk.

His bravery, however, was starting to wear its effects. The rational part of his mind was yelling at him to not call him and the other part, the insane part of his mind, was craving action and adrenaline rush. He was completely sure that if Suzaku were to meet up with him, Schneizel would definitely command his men to follow Suzaku, whether he liked it or not.

 _'I don't have much choice now, would I?'_ He thought. _'But before I do that, I have to make sure that they won't have me.'_

It may be risky to meet up with Suzaku alone but he knew that having someone inside them would be beneficial. Especially if that someone was the person that they expected least to betray them.

He now knew who to meet.

"Jeremiah?" Lelouch hoped that Jeremiah was not occupied right now. Luckily for him, Jeremiah's modification process was finished.

"I want you to call Viceroy Guilford and set up a meeting with him in an abandoned port near Tokyo Settlement. Tell him to come alone."

 _"What will I do to him, M'lord?"_ Jeremiah asked.

"Do nothing. Just make sure that he'll be there with no one accompanying him. I'll be the one who'll deal with him."

He ended up the call and proceeded to make another one.

"Suzaku?"

There was silence on the other end of the line before he heard Suzaku's voice.

 _"Lelouch. What made you call?"_

Suzaku's voice held no hostility but it was full of suspicion.

"We need to talk." He simply stated.

 _"Yes, indeed,"_ Suzaku replied before continuing, _"let's meet at our family shrine. Tomorrow... after lunch."_

Instead saying anything back, Lelouch ended the call. It may be rude to do it, but he has no other choice since he does not know what to tell him to prolong their conversation.

 _'_ _Now, for a much needed allies to bring.'_

* * *

 **August 7, 2018**

 **4:43**

"Aren't you going to get some rest, Master Bruce? You've been working on that device ever since Clayface infiltrated this place."

Bruce continued working on the dimension-traveling device, never bothering to answer Alfred's question nor acknowledge his presence. For him, Alfred was exaggerating. It was only yesterday (or, rather, a couple of hours earlier) since Clayface infiltrated the Batcave and stole files that were necessary for dimensional traveling to Lelouch's world.

Superman and his robots were helping to collect the massive energy needed for the travel. Green Lanterns Hal Jordan, John Stewart and Kilowog were helping Guy Gardner and Kyle Rayner in eliminating the minor problems before joining them. Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Flash were training and preparing the rest of their allies to strengthen their defense and toughen their offense if there comes a threat while the rest of the core members were away. Aquaman, along with Shazam, Black Canary, Green Arrow, Wally and Supergirl were the ones with the task to govern the whole organization.

As for the future of Gotham while he's away, Dick, Damian, Barbara, Jason and Helena would handle the entire city. He may not be there to help but he knew that they were capable of handling the crimes. He trusted them to do their jobs and become the guardians of Gotham.

"Master Kent dropped by earlier. He wanted me to tell you that they were close in collecting the energy required for the dimension jump. He said that he only needed a help in telling Lois about the impending journey."

Bruce stopped on connecting the two sheets of metal to wipe the sweat that started to drip on his forehead.

He was about to continue on his work when Alfred made another commentary.

"For a man with superpowers, he sure were a coward when it comes to Miss Lois."

Bruce let out a snort and said, "He's just afraid to upset Lois."

"I never take Miss Lois as the one who wears the pants in their relationship." Alfred stopped long enough to take a deep breath, "I'll never really understand their relationship. Any relationship, as a matter of fact."

"You're old enough to listen to gossips, Alfred."

"Perhaps—" Alfred stopped talking when the supercomputer displayed an emergency message.

 **"** **Trans-dimensional Travel in Process. Trans-dimensional Travel in Process."**

"Shit." Bruce said, wide-eyed. "Lex Luthor started his operation!"

* * *

 **6:15**

"That baldy headed doofus will pay!" Joker screamed as he kicked the trash bins around them. The trash bins fell down loudly, scattering dirty and smelly wastes and rats.

"I told him to drop us on a livelier place not on this," his left hand was waving wildly as he gestured around him, "sick and smelly place!"

"Look on the bright side Joker," Eobard Thawne pointed.

Joker growled angrily but smiled after a few seconds. He approached the near-by dumpster, opened it and saw three boys, cowering away from Joker.

"Aww! Look at the cutie boys!" Joker crooned which made the boys squeak in fear. The Joker's once smiling face turned into deep frown.

"Don't be scared! I ain't gonna hurt ya."

Bane snorted in disagreement at what Joker said.

"Says the man who always murder innocent people."

"Oh, cut that bullshit!" He turned towards Bane and fired a shot at him. He watched with poker face as the bullet ricocheted on the opposite direction and away from Bane.

"Never mind."

Then he turned back to the boys with a sinister smile plastered on his pale face. The boys cried harder when they saw the gun on Joker's hand.

"Don't worry; it won't hurt. I'll be quick."

The youngest attempted to plead to Joker but before he can utter a single word, two shots of gun blasted out from Joker's gun, ending the lives of the two boys.

"Is that really necessary?" Deathstroke asked. It's not as if he was against killing civilians but what Joker did was a waste of time and might alert not only the authorities but also Lelouch's military support. Luthor's instructions was clear to him—one group will divert the attention of the authorities and terrorists alike and the second will approach and take Lelouch from his confines quietly.

However, what Joker did (and will do) will definitely become hindrance to their mission.

"Well, yeah!" The Joker said as if he was talking to a mere child. "We need to make some noise in this war-torn world and let them know that we're here."

"First," Two-Face said, "there's already a lot of noise in this world. Second, Luthor told us to act discreetly."

"Baldy's not here so we'll do it my way!" The Joker dismissed the subject without any other thought.

"Do you think it's a good idea to let him handle this thing?" Bane whispered to Two-Face quietly while the Joker was not around. Two-Face was silent for a minute before he shrugged undecided.

"We can always take him out if he failed us." Eobard suggested.

* * *

 **Batcave**

 **6:30**

"The signal's all over the world. We don't have enough time to verify where Luthor's true location was."

Bruce said to Clark. The latter was eying the supercomputer, worry and regret was on his face.

"I shouldn't have holed myself up in my fortress. If I hadn't then Luthor will be in our hands now."

Bruce eyed Clark and said, "That might not be the case."

"Luthor perceived that we are currently busy on our tasks and he grabbed that opportunity to transport his retrieval team to Lelouch's dimension. It was a good timing on his part."

"While me, Flash and Wonder Woman were away, Luthor grabbed the chance to send a bunch of murdering assholes on Lelouch's world and wreak havoc on that world."

"We still have the upper hand, Clark." Bruce said for an attempt to calm the Kryptonian's surging feelings. He was lying if he said that he wasn't trying to calm himself too in the process. "We're gonna win against that bald man."

"We should, Bruce. We should."

* * *

 _"_ _Why are you defending that Britannian?"_

 _"_ _You don't know what I'm doing."_

 _-Kyoshiro Tohdoh and Katana_

* * *

 **NOTES:**

1\. Lelouch's powers was slowly coming back to him. First was his strength and then his speed. His other powers will make an appearance to the next chapter of the story.

2\. I know the annihilation of the Geass Order and the announcement of the UFN was not on the same day but keep in mind that certain events did NOT happened on this story such as Lelouch and Charles confrontation. Just like what we all know, one slight change of event will make a domino effect.

3\. Shirley still hasn't found out that Lelouch was a prince.

4\. The character's dialogue will also change, just like what I have said in Note #2, slight change will alter everything.

Chapter one of The Superiors and the Inferiors Secret Files is now up! Yay! Check that out if you want to read the untold stories of this fanfic. I'm accepting any prompts and requests right now but it should be connected on this story. Just leave a review or PM me and I'll get it done.

Cheers!


	10. Turn 9: Joke's on You, Lelouch

Turn 9: Joke's on You, Lelouch

* * *

 _"_ _If I'm going to compare my father to one of the Justice League's enemies, I'm going to compare him to Darkseid. They're both tyrants and they're both worst fathers."_

 _-Lelouch vi Britannia_

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

 **6:15**

The moment Shirley saw Milly's pale face on the television, she knew that Milly was grieving her death. Although masked by a light make-up, Milly's red and puffy eyes was still noticeable if a person were to pay an attention on her face. Slightly hunched, her stance was far different from her firm and authoritative posture.

 _'_ _Oh, Milly,'_ she sadly thought, _'I miss you and our friends!'_

A tear escaped from the corner of her eye and she was quick to wipe it away.

"Are you crying?"

Shirley looked at the source of the voice and saw C.C. approaching the couch she was sitting on with a box of Pizza Hut on her hands.

"N-no." She stuttered. She admits that she feels intimidated by this girl whenever she's around. Perhaps it is because of her serious and uncaring attitude.

"Liar." She sat beside Shirley. "If you're crying while watching news, then you seriously have a problem."

Shirley hung her head in shame. She doesn't know what to say to the green haired girl. Handling this kind of things was not really her forte. She feels pressured… as if the world was on her shoulders. All the things she have known about Lelouch was eating her up and she knew that it only takes one little push to get her explode.

Sure, she was calm whenever she's around Lelouch but when he's not, her worry for him was overpowering all her senses. She promised him that she wouldn't tell anyone about his secret.

But what if when he gets injured… or worst? How will she tell it to her sister, then?

"Do you know something about Lelouch that I don't know?"

Shirley snapped her head towards C.C., her face showing her shock and nervousness.

"Don't try to deny it, Shirley. I know you know something about him."

"What made you think I know something?" She tried to mask the nervousness on her face and on her voice but she knew her efforts were wasted. She observed the look on C.C.'s face and knew that she was already in deep trouble.

"Please," C.C. snorted, "it's pretty obvious that you knew his secrets. You're the type of person that can be easy to read."

"Even if I knew his secrets, I wouldn't tell you. It's not my position to tell you about all of it especially if Lulu never gave his approval." Shirley sternly said.

C.C. slowly smirked, not completely bothered by what Shirley said. If she's defiant about it, she can still find a way to find out about her precious Lulu's secrets.

"Oh, well," C.C. leaned on the couch and started to eat her pizza, "I could always ask that Harley girl about his secrets."

"What?" Shirley asked C.C., "Who's Harley?"

 _'_ _Hm, jealousy rears its ugly head.'_ C.C. thought in victory. She knew she has Shirley's attention the moment she uttered Harley's name, a confirmation that she didn't know who Harley is.

"It's shocking that you didn't know her. Haven't Lelouch told you who she is?" She goaded.

 _'_ _She's fun to mess with, almost as fun as Lelouch is.'_

Shirley does not know what to say to her. Jealousy was slowing eating her mind and she's afraid she can't contain it. If Lelouch trusts her, then why did he not tell her about this Harley? What was her connection to him? How did he knew her?

So many questions… no one but Lelouch to answer.

* * *

"We were attacked," Tohdoh announced as soon as he entered the conference room. Instantly, the chattering of the core members halted when they heard what he has said. He seated near Zero's vacant seat and started the meeting even though their leader was still not around.

"You were attacked too?" Asahina questioned. Surprise was showing on his scarred face.

"Kengyo was attacked, too." Minase piped in.

"Missiles started to rain down upon us when we were battling with the Britannian forces yesterday. It was a good thing that several of us were lucky to escape before those missiles turned us into charred meat." Hong Gu, who was Asahina's partner in governing the attack in Kazakhstan, said.

"Did the attacker use fighter jet planes?" Sugiyama asked. Hong Gu nodded his head affirmation.

Xing-ke, who was listening quietly, decided to enter the talk and give his insights.

"All three attacks must have been coordinated by the same group," he said. "They really thought this and plan this attack right from the start."

"I think it must be from Britannia. They tried to take us out while we were occupied." Chiba suggested. Bothered by the fact that Zero was not there to explain, Chiba started to get suspicious of him. She knew that he has a hand on it and if not, he must have known something.

"From what you've said, you were battling Britannian forces. If Britannia was the one who attacked them, then why do they sacrifice their comrades and knightmare frames?" Tamaki retorted sarcastically to Chiba.

For once, the rest agreed to what the resident airhead has said. It seems highly unlikely that Britannia would take their large amount of men and weapons just to take out the Black Knights.

"But this is Britannia we were talking about!" Chiba slammed her hand on the table to get the attention of the rest of her comrades. "They were notorious for sacrificing everything just to be on top. Look at what happened to that Clovis!"

"No," Tohdoh spoke. He garnered all the attention all of those inside the conference room.

"They were not the once behind this."

"I agree with Tohdoh." Xing-ke said.

Looks of absolute confusion was on the face of the core members as they tried to comprehend what they had said. Surely this was Britannia's doing, right?

Chiba sat down on her seat. "If not Britannia, then who?"

"Maybe the EU?" Rakshata supplied.

"Highly unlikely," Asahina said, "they were still weak from the continuous onslaught and defeat they received from Britannia. They can't pull this kind of attack without large consequences."

"Well, Tohdoh, what do you have in mind?" Rakshata took a long hit on her pipe.

"Xing-ke and I managed to talk to their command officer. It is clear that they're Britannians but he said that they were the ones robbed off of nation."

Chiba snorted before frowning. "Britannian? Victims? You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

"What that command officer said was true." Zero announced, garnering attention of those in the room.

"What made you think that they're also victims? They were the ones who invaded many countries!" Chiba exclaimed.

Zero stayed quiet for a minute before he asked a question that made them think deeply.

"Tell me, what do you think will happen if Sir Benjamin Franklin never betrayed his comrades?"

They stayed quiet, probably thinking for answer. Tamaki was the one who spoke first.

"Why do we need to go back to the past?"

"Because it affects the present and the future." Zero stated. He was prepared to deliver the truth that may change their viewed of Britannia. It matters not if they agree or disagree but at least he told the truth.

"When the duke of Britannia offered Sir Franklin a position in the monarchy, the Washington Rebellion was already gaining the upper hand. Now, imagine if he did not sold his loyalty."

"Then the Washington's Rebellion will be a success," Xing-ke concluded.

"Yes," Zero said, "they will succeed."

"George Washington, along with Sir Franklin has already planned what they need to do after they achieved their independence from Britannia."

Several snorts of laughter and sneers came from the core members as they listen to their leader tell a story. It still made no difference even if he painted them as victims. For them, they were still the culprit-the devil, hell bent on invading and spreading their power.

"You've got to be kidding, Zero," Asahina said, "That's the funniest joke I've ever heard!"

Zero drummed his fingers on the table, irritation and anger was overwhelming his mind. He tried to give them some answers… give them an insight to what they have been missing and to what they don't know, but they just laughed.

They never truly understood what he said. They were just concerned about their own selfish desires that they tend to overlook the fact that America was once a peaceful nation until Britannia took it away from them. Now, Americans were suffering from the consequences of Sir Franklin's betrayal.

"Why don't we just talk about the important matters at hand?" Xing-ke said. He, too, was unconvinced with what Zero has said. Perhaps it is because Britannia has done many vicious acts for the past century or so that earned their bad reputation. Either way, he was starting to question why Zero has said the past and if it was the truth.

Chiba rose from her seat and faced the masked revolutionist. "Yeah, we still need to rescue Kozuki and plan the upcoming battle. We only have hours before it commence."

* * *

 **Avalon**

 **13:45**

 _"_ _Private Hughes, your mission is to collect all data and information about Britannia's weapon called FLEIJA. You are to do your job as discreetly as you can. Godspeed, private."_

The connected Artificial Intelligence on the mainframe computer of the Command Base was Hughes' only companion on his suicide mission. His task was to infiltrate the Avalon and collect data and information regarding Britannia's superweapon that deemed useful to the upcoming war. They decided to send one soldier to go undercover and infiltrate the Avalon.

Luckily for them, he was a skilled undercover.

 _'_ _Collect data on FLEIJA, my ass!'_ He thought. _'I'ma collect all information not only on FLEIJA but also on those kick-ass mechas! It's the least thing I can do as a revenge for the nation that destroyed America's name right from the start.'_

He rounded the corner and saw two Britannian soldiers guarding the command center of the Avalon.

 _'_ _This is it. It's now or never, Hughes!'_

The two saw him approaching and they quickly blocked the entrance of the command center.

"State your objectives, private." A soldier commanded.

Hughes smirked behind the helmet he was wearing and confidently said, "I'm here to relay a message to Prince Schneizel."

His reasoning was enough for the two soldiers to let him inside the command center.

 _'_ _Idiots.'_

He discreetly activated the EMP attached on his watch and plugged a device that can steal encrypted files on the hidden part of the command center's servers. Luckily, for him, the servers was located on the farthest corner of the room away from the prying eyes of the soldiers and the prince inside.

All he have to do was wait fifteen minutes to finish the transfer.

 _'_ _Back on the business.'_

"Your Highness," he did a Britannian salutation before continuing, "We received intel about the attack on Kazakhstan, Kengyo and Jiangmenguan."

"Let me guess," Schneizel said, "it is the Black Knights with the help of the Chinese Federation. Am I right?"

 _'_ _Prince Schneizel, you're intelligent, but you'll get unexpected surprise.'_

"Yes, Your Highness," he took a deep breath to stall, "but it seems that there was a third party."

"The EU has finally entered the war?" Kanon Maldini, Schneizel's trusted aide spoke.

"Probably. Intel said that they bombed our hangar after attacking the Black Knights. It was also stated that the group has missiles with accurate precision and has outdated tank with advance specs."

"Is it ours, private?" Schneizel mused.

 _'_ _It won't be yours!'_ He thought.

"The reports said it was not ours, Your Highness."

"Hm? Quite an interesting turn of events. Wouldn't you say so, Kanon?"

Kanon nodded his head in agreement.

"Anyways, that is not our problem." He turned to Kanon and said, "I believe you should be on your way now, Kanon. Sir Kururugi must have left now to meet with Zero."

Hughes' eyes widened when he heard what Schneizel said. Earlier, he heard from his comrades that their general would meet with Suzaku Kururugi on the Kururugi Shrine. Certain Task Force X members would accompany him as a precaution and Hughes thought that it was not necessary in the first place. He turned out to be wrong.

 _'_ _They need to know about this!'_ He thought.

"You are dismissed, private."

Hughes saluted once again and walked away from the two. He was lucky to snatch Schneizel's laptop when they weren't looking and he quickly placed an EMP on it. When he was certain that they were never watching his back, he swiftly approached the server and unplugged that finished file transfer before hurriedly exiting the command center.

 _'_ _Need to warn them!'_

He entered the lavatory for a needed privacy while he contacts the command center.

 _"_ _Congratulations on your successful mission, private!"_ Lieutenant Birchwood's voice greeted him.

"Listen, Lieutenant,"

Hughes knew that his window of opportunity only lasts for a couple of minutes so he has to relay his message clearly before someone barges in inside the lavatory.

"Schneizel sent someone on Kururugi's tail. He knew that Kururugi would meet up with general!"

 _"_ _Shit."_ That single word was a definite description of what his message was. _"They need to be informed about this! They ain't prepared for an attack!"_

Hughes heard footsteps on the other side of the door and a loud knock echoed inside the lavatory.

"Shit!" He hissed quietly in annoyance. "Lieutenant, I have to go! They're here and I still need to deliver a package. Gotta go!"

A loud bang echoed and he watched as the door opened, revealing several soldiers with their guns aimed at Hughes.

"What the hell, man!" Hughes exclaimed. "You scared the living shit outta me! Don't you know how to knock?"

The soldiers looked around and saw their fellow comrade, his pants unbuttoned and he was washing his hands on the sink. He was not wearing his helmet and the way he looked, it suggests that he was inside the lavatory for quite some time.

"Did you saw a soldier carrying a laptop earlier?" One of them questioned.

"Do you think I can see who went in here when I was inside that stall?" Hughes pointed to the third stall with the door slightly ajar.

The soldiers looked at the third stall and looked back at Hughes before shaking their head.

"Thought so."

"Well, if you see him, tell us."

Hughes knew that he couldn't easily agree to them without questioning them because it may raise their suspicions. "What's with him, anyways?"

"He took Prince Schneizel's laptop earlier."

Hughes pretended to look shocked about the news and the fools seemed to buy it.

"Anyways, we need to continue the search. If you see him, alert us."

They took one last glance around the room before they made their exit.

Hughes sighed in relief when the door closed. He was safe… for now.

 _'_ _Still gotta deliver the package.'_

Taking the heavy laptop of the second prince by its handle, Hughes activated the cloaking device attached on his combat uniform. Now that he's invisible (both physically and signally alike), he'll free to roam the Avalon without someone seeing him. All he need to do is act quickly, stealthily and quietly.

 _'_ _I have an hour and a half before this cloaking device expires.'_

* * *

 **Kururugi Shrine**

 **13:55**

 _"_ _Lieutenant Birchwood's undercover reported that Schneizel has someone tailing Kururugi. We've already made precautions and surrounded the area to contain and easily fight if they'll take you, which will probably happen."_

Lelouch was not surprised with Flagg's news. He has anticipated this move from Schneizel considering that he likes to make contingency plans and in this game, Suzaku was the contingency. A bait to lure him out of his cave.

"I've already covered this, Flagg," Lelouch simply said to the communicator attached on his wrist while wiping the sleeves of his uniform on his mouth. He used his regained super-hearing to listen to his surroundings and found dozens of heartbeats including those of his comrades and his enemies, particularly Suzaku.

 _"_ _I know. I just said it to you."_ Flagg replied.

 _"_ _Enough with the talking, boys,"_ Harley's voice entered the transmission. _"When will the battle start? I'm bored!"_

 _"_ _You're always bored, Harley."_ Deadshot retorted.

 _"_ _Would you two mind shutting up?"_ Lelouch smirked when Flagg hissed in irritation. Who wouldn't be irritated when your team was always acting like they're children?

 _"Your necks will explode if you utter another word. You hear me?"_

 _"Yeah, yeah."_ Harley said, sarcastically.

"You guys shut the fuck up. I'm here. Don't want a distraction."

Lelouch can already see Suzaku in front of the abandoned shrine, waiting patiently for him. He looked at Lelouch's direction when he must've sensed someone was staring at him. The look on his face was far different from his usual happy personality. He has endured many problems and burden when he started to work for his sworn enemies.

 _'That's what he get for not listening to me. I've warned him about the consequences of joining with the enemy.'_

He continued to climb up the steps until he reached the top where Suzaku awaits.

"You came alone?"

Lelouch knew that Suzaku was not the type of a person who beats around the bush. He expected no greetings coming from him as soon as he set his foot on the shrine.

"I promised I would." Lelouch lied.

Lelouch heard Harley snorting in laughter through his communicator.

 _"_ _Liar, liar, pants on fire!"_ She gasped.

He tried to suppress the irritation he was feeling but he knew he does not succeeded since the look his face gave it away. No matter how expert he was in masking his emotions and feelings, Harley was always the one who gets on his nerves.

Every.

Single.

Fucking.

Time.

Fortunately, for him, Flagg managed to intervene with Harley's 'push-the-button' game before he could do something that he might regret.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here." Suzaku said. His tone was full of hatred and anger towards him and he knew that in the inside, Suzaku was brewing a lot of it just for him.

Lelouch never flinched nor showed any reaction to what he said. Instead, he made a sarcasm out of it.

"According to this particular situation there were 31 routes I could take. Especially with Britannia being so loose with the routes relating to the royal family."

 _"_ _You're really witty, ya know that Louch?"_ Harley crooned, using the nickname she gave for him.

"That's not what I meant, Lelouch." Suzaku stated, "Showing your face to me, that's what took nerves."

Lelouch eyes widened ever so slightly when he heard what Suzaku has said. If there's someone who should be ashamed and who should not show up, it should be Suzaku, not him. He has brought much disgrace on his name because of what he has done and will do.

Besides, he was the one that brought Lelouch to the emperor as if he was some kind of winning trophy. He sold out his best friend just for a position in the Knights of the Round.

Jason Blood would definitely not approve of this treachery.

"Because you promised? I have no reason to believe any of your promise at this point." He continued.

"Then why did you also come here alone? After what you did?" Lelouch retorted back.

Suzaku frowned, showing his displease towards Lelouch. "Because I'm sick and tired of lying."

Lelouch was not surprised that Suzaku would utter those words full of hypocrisy. He was, after all, an expert in that field.

"I've had to lie to Nunnally, just like you! Nothing's worse." Suzaku accused, making Lelouch gasp. "Some friend you were. You were betraying me all along!"

"Not just me. Everyone on the student council, too. Nunnally," Suzaku brought his left hand up and revealed his Knight pin. An evidence that he was a knight of the realm.

* * *

 **Command Center, Base**

"Sir,"

Lieutenant Birchwood approached the soldier who raised his attention.

"What is it, Major?"

The man pointed to the monitor of his computer for Birchwood to see. "Sir, I've tracked several anonymous figures approaching the scene. They're bound to arrive any minute now."

"Okay, do you think you can give me a clear satellite view of those anonymous figures?"

The man nodded and he went back to his work. It took several seconds a live satellite view and it will take more seconds before the pixelated video clears.

"Sir, it has been cleared!"

Birchwood doesn't need to glance twice at the video. All he needed to see was the green hair and pale skin of the leader of the group to know who they were.

"Oh, fuck me,"

* * *

 **Kururugi Shrine**

 _"_ _An…swer…"_

"This is Flagg, what is it?"

 _"_ _Jo… coming… ready!"_ The voice on the other end said, his message was unclear because of the static the communication.

"Hey, it was not like that earlier! What happened?" Deadshot exclaimed.

"Oh, fuck me,"

All of them followed Captain Boomerang's line of sight and they paled when they saw a group of very familiar people approaching Lelouch and Suzaku.

"Pudding!" Harley exclaimed excitedly.

* * *

"Why did you save the student council members from the hotel jacking?" Suzaku stared angrily at Lelouch's slightly bruised face.

Lelouch was about to when someone cackled loudly, instantly gaining their attention.

 _'_ _No. It can't be!'_

"It has been years since I've seen you, Lelouch, and it was not in good circumstances."

"No… NO!"

Throughout the years Suzaku has known Lelouch, this was the very first time he explicitly expressed fear towards someone that does not involved Nunnally. The look on his eyes was pure unadulterated fear of something and Suzaku immediately knew that there was something wrong.

Something he should also fear.

Suzaku stared at the direction Lelouch was staring and he saw a man, dressed in purple with green hair and ridiculously pale (almost white) skin, emerging from the trees. A ridiculously wide smile was on his face and a pistol on his left hand.

"Now, we'll continue our game with or without Batsy! HAHAHA!"

More people dressed in ridiculous outfits emerged from the trees. They were a whole lot different from normal people based on their looks and actions. They were… psychopaths, from what Suzaku can see.

A loud bang came from the shrine and a dozen of Britannian soldiers emerged with Kanon Maldini leading them.

"You brought them with you?!" Lelouch exclaimed even though he knew they were with Suzaku.

"What?! N-no!"

"You traitor!" Lelouch screamed, his faith to his friend has fully vanished.

"This just get more and more exciting. More souls to play with!" Joker giggled.

"You're a monster, Joker!"

"You're the one who's monster, Zero." Kanon Maldini said. He made a gesture and instantly, several knightmare frames emerged from the scene, including Guilford's.

 _'_ _Just my luck!'_

"I never do this but I propose an immediate alliance against Zero since it looks like you have your own grudge against him. Help us to take him in and prevent a war that has been looming us ever since he came out." Kanon proposed to Joker and extended a hand for Joker to take if he agreed. "Would you like that?"

"Hm…" Joker pretended to think about it, "I don't know. I don't really like alliances if you ask me. You should ask them instead,"

Joker made a gesture towards his comrades and added, "but I'm the leader soooo,"

They attacked all at once, taking down the Britannian forces by brute force and guns in the case of normal people in Joker's crew. All of them were hoping to get the elusive Lelouch.

Gunshots echoed throughout the small battlefield coming from the Britannian forces and to Joker's comrades but mostly from somewhere they don't know. They have a hunch that it was the Black Knights. Gefjun Disturbers activated around the area, making the knightmare frames go offline.

Suzaku saw a big thug approaching him while cracking his hands. He has two weird-looking tubes coming from his back and attached to a device on his mouth which almost serves as an oxygen mask to him.

 _'There's something about that tube. I need to cut it out first...'_ He thought.

"I'm going to break every fucking bones you have, twerp."

He aimed a punch to Suzaku's face but before he can move, a massive collision echoed throughout the once peaceful shrine sending strong winds.

Suzaku stared with absolute aghast at Lelouch, who managed to block the thug's punch with his own fist. He doesn't showed any strain as he continue to hold his enemy while the showed an immense pain.

"I'll be the one who'll break your bones first, Bane," he tightened his hold to Bane's fist making him grunt in pain, "like how you broke my father's back."

He grabbed Bane's black shirt and flipped him onto his back. A deafening sound echoed when Bane's back collided with the land, even making a large crater appear on the face of the earth. He cut Bane's tubes into half and he watched in satisfaction when the juices that was responsible for his strength leaked onto the ground.

As the battle raged on, Joker slowly escaped the battlefield without anyone noticing him. Some might tell that he's a coward for escaping but that was the whole intention of the mission—to see how Lelouch has fared. They need to see the developments on his powers before they dive head first on the war.

"Where is he?! Where's Joker?!" Lelouch roared, his eyes were glowing in red because of the laser. He sent a punch on a Britannian soldier who was standing on his way. The force was enough to make the soldier fly across the small field and collide on the large tree, even knocking the tree out.

The man standing in front of Suzaku was the pure essence of a demon, not a human nor an animal. He couldn't think of any possible theories why he looked and acted like that but he knew he should take it seriously. Something screams at him that this was the true nature of Lelouch… the true nature of a once gentle man.

"Flagg, Deadshot!" he roared, not minding the shocked faces of Suzaku and those who were in the knightmare frames. The latter can't do anything because of the Gefjun Disturbers scattered across the shrine.

Two men, both armed with guns, approached the angry Zero.

"Where's Harley?" He snarled.

"She's heavily sedated as of now and with Captain Boomerang."

"Bring Joker to me... NOW!"

Both sprinted away, leaving Lelouch with Suzaku, an unconscious Kanon Maldini and the rest of the Britannian soldiers.

"Lelou-" Before Suzaku can finish, Lelouch collapsed on the dirt. A large dart, which acts as a syringe, was on his back.

"Bane's here too, eh?"

A large man, wearing a coat, emerged from the trees.

"Sorry for the mess this kid has done." The mysterious man lifted Lelouch off the ground and hoisted him up on his shoulder. "Ya know how the kids are... they're unstoppable."

He reached inside his coat and took out a boomerang. He flung it across the field and to the Gefjun Disturbers scattered around. Small explosion took place as the boomerang destroyed the one near Guilford's. As soon as the boomerang returned to the man's hand, Guilford's knightmare went online.

"Nice meeting y'all!"

The man bid a goodbye and placed Lelouch's left hand on the collar of his shirt.

Nothing happened for a minute before Guilford's knightmare collected the mysterious man and an unconscious Lelouch. The shocked Britannian forces, including Suzaku, can't do anything but to stare on the horizon at the retreating figure of the Gareth.

* * *

 **Batcave**

 **19:23**

"The battle will commence any minute from now. Aren't we going to do anything to help him."

Superman approached the tired Bruce who was continuously working on the machine.

"We aren't going to make it," he said, "but we'll be there before Joker gets Lelouch and before someone will betray Lelouch. I only need some time to make this online."

"You better finish that up, Bruce. I don't want to see Lelouch wallowing in regret because of what he will do."

"Trust me," Bruce never faced Superman when he answered, "I don't like that either."

Their minds drifted to the memory of the once great man who was swallowed by his ambition to find and create a perfect earth. He has good intentions but it was his undoing. He killed many people, including those of great men and women, making it even hard to defeat him because of the lost comrades.

They were able to contain him... they just don't know for how long.

They don't want to see Lelouch like that. They don't want to see him blinded by his ambitions to create a better world for Nunnally and to avenge his fallen mother.

* * *

 _"Justice League's like that. First was smart planning before brute fighting. It has never failed them before and I think it never will."_

 _-Colonel Rick Flagg_

* * *

 **NOTES:**

1\. What private Hughes has done (the transfer data thingy) was reference to what Bruce has done in Zack Snyder's _Batman v Superman_. Remember the scene where he went to Luthor's party?

Yeah, that one.

2\. Jason Blood, the human host of Etrigan the Demon, was once a knight of King Arthur's court. Merlin was the one who bound Jason's mortal soul to Etrigan.

3\. The static on communication was Joker's doing. He brought an EMP with him.

4\. The battle scene of Lelouch and Bane was a nod towards _Knightfall_ where Bane broke Batman's back

5\. Why did they sedated Harley? Simple. She's going to be a liability because of Joker. Just refer to what happened in _Injustice League: Gods Among Us Year Five_ when she met the Earth-Two Joker.

6\. If you haven't guessed it, Captain Boomerang was the one who took Lelouch.

I intentionally wanted to post this chapter on my birthday but because of certain circumstances and responsibilities on my studies, I decided to make this chapter an early gift to all of you. I also decided to post the chapter two of the side story on my birthday to lessen the hassle.

Anyways, what do you think about this chapter? Leave some reviews to let me know about the whole shitstorm that has happened and will happen. I'll take those reviews as a gift!

Cheers!

PS: Who do you think was the person in Clark and Bruce's memories?


	11. Turn 10: In the Midst of a Great War I

Turn 10: In the Midst of a Great War pt. I

* * *

 _"_ _It doesn't matter if you are a Britannian or an Eleven. All of us are victims of war and injustice."_

 _-Shirley Fenette_

* * *

 **Avalon**

 **17:35**

 _'_ _I need to know… did you use your geass on Euphie. Be honest.'_

Kanon stopped the record and looked at Suzaku's pale face. The former was sporting a cast on his left arm because of the fight that took place earlier that day though for the most part, he was unconscious. Apart from the cast, Kanon still complained the massive migraine he was having.

"Sir Kururugi, would you happen to know the reason why Lord Guilford would suddenly betray us like that? As well as why you behave the way you did on Kamine Island?" Schneizel asked.

Suzaku was still reeling in shock and surprise to the stunt Lelouch pulled that he never noticed Schneizel's question. Kanon has to nudge him just to get his attention.

"It… it's his geass. He can control a person's mind, Your Highness." He answered after a few seconds of internal debate in whether he would tell about Lelouch's geass or not.

Schneizel pursed his lips; disappointment was clear as a day on his face. Even though he expected right from the start that something was amiss with Suzaku's relationship with Zero, it was still sad to know that Suzaku would cover this kind of thing from him and the empire. It was even sadder to know that the enemy they have been pursuing right from the start and the brother he has loved and lost because of the war… was one.

"That information of yours will not erase the fact that you betrayed the empire by not cooperating with us." Schneizel stood from his seat and faced Suzaku. "You held a vital information that may defeat the enemy but you chose to keep that information to yourself."

Suzaku hung his head in shame. He swear allegiance to the empire to defeat Zero—to defeat Lelouch—but he chose to keep the information for himself just because the emperor asked him to. He wanted to change the system from within and he knew he wouldn't achieve it on the hands of the emperor. He knew very well that Schneizel was the one he should swear his allegiance to but he already missed that chance.

 _'_ _If only…'_ He thought.

"I'm willing to pay the price of my betrayal," Suzaku said, "even if I have to sacrifice my own life. I'll do anything in my power to correct the things I have done."

Schneizel studied Suzaku's face for a second. All he can see was the determination and sheer heroism on his face and he knew that Suzaku would do what he promised to do.

"Are you willing to fire the FLEIJA on Zero?"

The question caught Suzaku off guard although he knew he has to expect him saying it sooner rather than later.

 _'_ _FLEIJA… the strongest weapon of Britannia,'_ he thought, _'Do I really have to fire it on Lelouch?'_

 _'_ _Yes! You have to end the war Lelouch has started. Even if you have to fire the FLEIJA on him and kill him!'_ Another voice on the back of his head emerged. _'This is the only way to stop Lelouch from killing everyone just for his goddamned revenge on the empire!'_

"Are you willing to kill my brother to save the people of the empire? To save millions of people from war that has been plaguing the world ever since he debuted?" Schneizel continued.

 _'_ _I… I,'_

"I will," Suzaku said aloud, determination was clouding his face, "I will fire the FLEIJA."

Schneizel smiled at Suzaku's decision.

"Good."

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

 **17:56**

 _'I'll get you back on this Lelouch! Euphie will get her revenge!'_ Cornelia thought after Lelouch and Jeremiah exited her temporary cell room.

She was glad when Jeremiah saved her from V.V. during the Black Knights' infiltration of Geass Order. However, that gratitude melt into anger when she found that Jeremiah was really an ally of Zero. It might be because Lelouch geassed him but she knew that Jeremiah follows him completely, with or without geass.

 _'I just have to remove this restraints and get away from here,'_ she thought. _'Lelouch was stupid enough to not assign a Black Knight to guard me.'_

She was in the middle of assessing the restraints on her arm when she heard several footsteps outside her cell. She stopped what she was doing when the door cracked open and three figures entered the dimly lit room. The door shut closed, encasing her once more in the dark along with the three anonymous figures.

Nothing happened for the first three minutes that they were in her cell. They were murmurings around her but she could not comprehend what they were saying. All she can hear were the words 'United States' and 'Japanese'.

They stayed silent for a couple of seconds before someone opened the overhead light of the cell, revealing the faces of the three.

The two men were in full combat clothes but she could not distinguish what faction or nation they were in for the clothes they wore were unfamiliar to her. They have a machine gun clutched close to their chests although it was different from an ordinary machine gun they use.

The third person, a _girl_ , was dressed like a clown (from what she can tell) although her dressed was more inappropriate than the usual clowns she saw. Her face was pale and smudges of make-up adorned it. She was not carrying a gun but instead she carries a mallet.

"Who are you?!" She demanded.

The one who opened the light smirked at her bravado, his eyes held a promise of pain and torture.

"The once proud princess fell on her high horse," he crouched in front of her and stared at her.

"How you doin' down there, _princess_?" He sneered.

Cornelia pursed her lips in anger towards the man's mockery. His statement was accountable for his courage but what he said was a complete idiocy. He knew her status as a princess and yet, he has the nerve to mock her.

A complete fool would be the only one to do that.

"Do you know what you're doing, soldier?" Cornelia said, "You're siding with the enemy. You're committing high treason!"

The three laughed at what Cornelia said. They were expecting her to say that and she never failed their expectations.

"High treason?!" The other soldier exclaimed. "You gotta be fucking kidding me!"

"You actually believe we're Britannians?" The woman said. A devious smirk on her lips and a mischievous glint on her eyes.

The one in front of Cornelia turned to the woman and glared at her.

"I believe you have a rescue operation to do, Harley."

Harley transferred the mallet from her left hand to her right while staring at the soldier, her devious smile still on her lips.

"I don't have any rescue operation on my schedule, Flagg. Maybe you're talking about the battle I'll later fight?"

Flagg stood from his crouch and towered over the small yet dangerous girl in hopes of terrifying her. His move, however, has failed.

"Lelouch wants you to rescue Nunnally, not join the fight! He'll have your head if you disobey!" Flagg exclaimed.

"Oh, come on," she whined, "It's not fair!"

"Just shut up, Harley, and do what boss says." The still unnamed soldier admonished.

Harley glared at the two soldier before reverting her attention back to Cornelia. The glare she sported has vanished on her eyes and replaced once again with dangerous gleam.

"Everyone says you're a good soldier," she leaned towards her, "and a good soldier means a good enemy."

She straightened her hunched body before marching towards the door to leave. She turned back one last time and said, "I'll look forward to the day we'll fight. Toodles!"

When the door shut after Harley left, Flagg turned his attention back to the restrained Cornelia. He stared at her face for a couple of minutes, searching for any emotion on her face, before taking a large injection gun from his pocket, getting Cornelia off guard.

"W-what are you going to do?" She said. Her voice filled with panic.

"Relax," Flagg said in attempt to console the panicking princess although Cornelia knew that it was full of sarcasm. "This will only hurt just a little."

The moment Flagg said that, Cornelia that he was bluffing. She readied herself when he pressed the tip of the injection gun on her jugular.

"He—Ow!"

She screamed when a sharp pain entered on her neck coming from the injection gun. She wanted to ease the pain on her neck so badly but the restraints stops her from doing so.

"Subject's location verified," the other soldier said, giving Cornelia an idea that Flagg inserted a tracking device on her neck. The tracking device would be a problem when she would escape but she knew she could take it out of her easily. Blood loss be damned.

"Now," Flagg crouched back in front of her.

"This thing," he took a small mechanized object from his pocket, "is called nanite. It can track you wherever the hell you are through Global Positioning System via your satellite."

"What makes this tracker wonderful is that it is also a bomb."

Cornelia's eyes widen when she heard what Flagg said. The nanite thing inside her body is a bomb and it will surely ruin her plan to escape from Lelouch and his goons.

 _'_ _Calm down, Cornelia. He must be bluffing. No small device the size of a grain can do that.'_ She thought an attempt to relief herself, which was successful.

"You might think that I may be lying to you but watch this first,"

Flagg placed the device on the top of the only table in the small room before distancing himself away. He stepped back beside Cornelia and raised his arm, allowing Cornelia to see a flashing black device. Flagg typed something on the device, which suddenly made the nanite explode on the table.

"A size of a grain but was capable to destroy an object just like a hand grenade."

Cornelia gulped in nervousness as she continued to observe the ruined table. She spared Flagg a fleeting glance before focusing her attention back to the device on his arm. She knew that the object was the triggering device of the nanite. She just doesn't know how to get it from him.

"You run," he made a gesture of slicing his index finger on his neck, "your head will explode. Got that?"

Cornelia nodded absentmindedly at Flagg. Her mind's full on ways on how to get the triggering device and escape.

Flagg spared one last glance at her before walking towards the door, his comrade following him, and left the room.

* * *

 **Tokyo Settlement**

 **17:50**

"New orders, Black Knights Ikaruga Fleet!" Lelouch announced to his comrades through the Shinkiro's communication system, "Gefjun Disturbers have immobilized all utilities, communications and pre-fifth generation Knightmares throughout the Tokyo settlement. The enemy's military might has been cut in half. Hit all major facilities and eliminate their ability to strike back. We must achieve these goals before the main forces under Schneizel's command arrive here."

"By establishing our defense line, we'll isolate the government bureau. If we can seize Viceroy Nunnally, victory will be ours!"

He can hear the cheering of the Black Knights through the intercom but he paid them no mind. Instead of giving any more orders to them, Lelouch opened another communication channel were the Suicide Squad was on stand by and waiting for instructions.

"Flagg, Harley, Katana and Captain Boomerang," he said authoritatively, "you are to enter the government bureau discreetly. Don't let Rolo or any of his company see you. No matter how powerful you are, you don't stand a chance against him."

"Harley, inform Sayoko about your allegiance to me. You'll be the one in-charge of freeing Kallen."

 _"_ _Sayoko's the ninja maid, right?"_ Harley asked.

"Yes," he nodded even though she can't see him, "Flagg and Katana will secure Nunnally and ensure her escape."

"Just tell her to not tell the Black Knights about your existence."

 _"_ _Hey! What 'bout me?"_ Captain Boomerang exclaimed.

Lelouch thought about sending him with Harley but he knew that Harley and Sayoko could handle rescuing Kallen. It's not as if he doesn't trust Captain Boomerang, it was quite the opposite really. He was more than capable of finishing a mission.

"You'll tail Rolo." He finally said with a sigh. "Keep a good distance away from him. Report to me if there's suspicious activity from him."

 _"_ _Hell yeah!"_ was Captain Boomerang's last words he heard before he cut the communication.

* * *

 **Command Base**

"Alpha-7 team on me!" Lieutenant Birchwood boomed. He waited for ten seconds as the soldiers he called lined up in front of him. He observed them for a few seconds before speaking.

"As you all know, it is battle time," he stopped when he heard several murmurs coming from the soldiers. "Silence!"

The murmurings stopped when he screamed in irritation. The muscle on his left eye twitched in irritation.

"As I was saying, the battle has already started." He continued. "General Lelouch wants you to clear all the civilians in Ashford Academy and within a hundred mile radius of government bureau."

A soldier raised his left hand up and Birchwood acknowledge him. "Yes, private?"

"Sir, is there a possibility that we're gonna deploy nukes? After all, you said to clear all civilians within the battleground."

Murmurings started again as the soldiers discussed the possibility and the effects it will bring in the battle. Some of them were concerned but mostly were scared about the effects it will bring.

Birchwood loudly cleared his throat and the soldiers ceased their talking, once again listening to what the Lieutenant will say.

"No."

The soldiers heaved a sigh of relief when they heard Birchwood's answer.

"Unfortunately, Britannia might launch theirs."

Birchwood heard several gasps of surprises, and even curses, from his men.

The properties of the FLEIJA warhead, including its components, parts, chemicals used and damage strength, were earlier revealed among the higher ranks as soon as Private Hughes returned from his mission. The files and documents he gathered from his scouring was enough for them to study, and even replicate if really needed. He also made sure to get the files on knightmare frame production and properties.

However, they have to reverse engineer the knightmare frame due to its property called sakuradite. It was the source of power of knightmare frames and since sakuradite does not exist in their world, they have to look for other alternatives to power the knightmare frames or alter the specifications of the war machine.

"Private Hughes' mission has come into fruition. He has gathered files about FLEIJA on the enemy's territory to further enhance our knowledge about the warhead." He said.

"However, due to the limited time we have, we were still unable study the files and start planning to reverse engineer it. We are also looking up for the possibility of preparing a countermeasure with the aid of Gefjun Disturbers."

The soldiers remained silent as they tried to process what Birchwood said.

"The FLEIJA they would detonate later was only a prototype and has damage effect of 53%. Still high enough to inflict permanent damage on the city."

"Go-7 and Bravo-5 team will handle the ground troops. Air force will assault on higher altitude with Commander Houston leading the campaign."

"Sir?" Another soldier raised his hand, "Any chances that the enemy might strike the Air force on the higher altitude? We were doomed if their knightmare frames managed to climb on higher altitude without their engines freezing up."

Birchwood has thought about the possibility. He has thought about every tactics he knew to apply if they did managed but he only has come up with one plausible move: to withdraw all air forces. If they can't withdraw in time for the attack, it would be the end for them all.

"The possibility is high. Although we can't tell it for now." He solemnly said.

They heard loud sirens that immediately halted their talking. They looked at Birchwood in question and he stared back, a look of anticipation on his face.

"Well, what're you waiting for? You heard the sirens, lads! Move it!" He shouted.

The soldiers in front of him saluted one last time and quickly moved to their assigned vehicles. Each has a weapon of their own and geared head to toe. Armed with their knowledge of combat; both with weapons and hand-to-hand combat, the only advantage they have against an army of technologically advanced nation. Their technology were also advance but not enough to be in par with Britannian technology.

"Come on, lads! Faster!" Birchwood commanded. "Prove to me that you ain't a bunch of wussies! Move faster!"

Birchwood's taunts seemed to work for the soldiers moved faster. The once half-filled military trucks were now overflowing with courageous soldiers, ready to fight and die to have their vengeance on the nation that messed up the timeline.

Each military tanks has thirty soldiers on board apart from the fifty that would follow them on foot. Their station are in the east, west and south of the battlefield. The northern part of the battlefield is where the government bureau lies. The remaining soldiers would guard all the possible entrances and exits to ensure that no one would enter and exit the building for safety precautions.

"Ready to move out!"

The military trucks' engines revved as they wait for the gates of a rundown warehouse to open. Three heavy-assault tanks were behind them along with fifty ground troops.

The moment the walkway dropped, the military trucks quickly set off followed by the tanks. The troops waited another minute to give them a head start before following.

The first twenty-five soldiers caught up with the tanks in order to provide aid for them if they caught in the middle of a crossfire. The remaining twenty-five where behind them, ready to enter the southern part of the battlefield.

Throughout their excursions, they did not expected a cockpit suddenly landing near them making them fall back to avoid the debris and dusts that scattered.

When the dusts settled, the leader of the southern troops motioned for his comrades to surround the ejected cockpit. Four soldiers immediately complied and trained their rifles on the cockpit. Seconds later, the cockpit opened and a Britannian soldier emerged, a pistol trained on the closest soldier.

"Drop the gun! Drop it!" The leader shouted.

The Britannian, overwhelmed by the number of soldiers around him, dropped the gun and raised his hands in the air, surrendering.

"Hudson," the leader signaled the young private to cuff the soldier. He was about to cuff the hands of the Britannian suddenly, the Britannian firmly grabbed his wrist and brought his captor in front of him. He trained a Swiss knife on the neck of the private but never made a move to kill him.

"Drop your guns or I'll kill him!" He shouted. He eyed the soldiers with their guns trained on him. "Drop it!"

Instead of complying with his requests, the soldiers made no move and continued to focus their rifles at him.

"Are you all deaf?! I said—" Sharp pain shot on his body originating from his sides. He looked at the source of pain and saw the hand of his captor with a Swiss knife wedged on his side, blood flowing non-stop. His captor must have noticed him staring at his side that he thrust his knife further making the Britannian soldier cough in pain. The soldier took his knife out of the Britannian's body twisted facing him before kneeing his stomach. The Britannian never retaliated because of the pain on his side and on his stomach caused by the kick.

"Follow us after you disposed him." The leader said, glancing one last time to the slowly dying Britannian soldier.

* * *

 **Government Bureau**

Sayoko threw a kunai at a lone soldier and it hit the forehead of the soldier with precision. She went on her way to locate Kallen's prison cell as per Lelouch's command. She has to find it quickly before they execute her and move Nunnally on to different location.

She was about to round a corner when she came across a woman, dressed in ridiculous outfit and with overwhelming make-up on her face. She has a wide grin plastered on her face as she stared at Sayoko's narrowed eyes.

"Hiya there, ninja maid!" She waved her left hand stupidly.

"Who are you?" Sayoko threw a kunai at her direction but she easily dodged it. The girl, however, never made a retaliation and just stood where she was.

"Ya know… we've always been asked by that same question these past few days," she swung her mallet, "and it's kinda irritating!"

"You won't win against me, Britannian." Sayoko threatened. "So don't challenge me now!"

"Sheesh! As if Lelouch will forgive you if you kill me."

Sayoko frowned at what the woman said. She doesn't know if the girl was merely joking and why she knew about her master.

"How did yo—" She was cut off when she heard a shrill ring coming from the woman. The woman took something out of her pocket and pressed it on her ear.

"Yo!" She greeted. "Yes… she's here with me."

The woman showed the object on her hands and Sayoko saw a black phone without buttons. The only thing it has was a screen and on it was her master's name.

 _"_ _Sayoko,"_ she quickly recognized Lelouch's voice over the phone, _"work with Harley to free Kallen. Don't tell anyone about her involvement. I'll be the one to handle that."_

"Who is she, Lelouch-sama?" She asked, still staring at the girl.

She heard explosions over the line and immediately worried for the safety of her master. She was about to ask a question if he was fine when he quickly answered her previous question.

 _"_ _She's one of my important assets outside Black Knights."_ He said before hanging up the phone.

"See? I told ya I'm important." She said and snatched the phone from Sayoko's hand before walking away from her.

* * *

"Thirty!" Harley yelled as she struck the poor Britannian with her mallet. The poor Britannian lifelessly dropped on the floor and Sayoko knew that Harley would inflict more damage to the body just like what she did to the last twenty-nine Britannian soldiers they found.

"Take this! Ha!" She repeatedly thrusted her knife on the lifelessly and body.

Sayoko almost threw up at what Harley did to the body, almost feeling sorry even. She never felt any fear from any besides her master and now on Harley.

"Are you finished there?" She tried to avoid looking at the body but she couldn't erase the memory on her mind.

"Yup! Let's go!" She exclaimed.

Sayoko sidestepped the body and hurriedly approached the room where Kallen was. She tightly clutched the case that contained Kallen's body suit on her hand and opened the door after telling Harley to guard the entrance. Thankfully, Harley complied to guard it.

She saw a Britannian guard that was about to execute Kallen and she immediately took into action. Approaching the unsuspecting man, she immediately slashed her kunai deeply to his back and watched as he fell on the floor.

"Sayoko!" Kallen exclaimed in surprise and gratitude.

"You're looking well. Master Ro—"

"Sayoko, behind you!"

Sayoko turned around just in time to see a man who was about to strike her with a sword. She was about to retaliate when the man the lurched forward, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth. His body twitched and fell on the ground, lifeless.

"Whew! That was close!" Sayoko stared at Harley, incredulous at what she did.

"I told you to guard the entrance, haven't I?" Sayoko hissed.

Harley frowned and nodded at Sayoko.

"Then why was he here?" She pointed to the lifeless body on the floor. Harley kicked the body and hit the head with her mallet, effectively crushing the skull.

Sayoko heard Kallen vomit from the sight of blood and gore dripping from the mallet. She, herself, wanted too but she fought the urge to do so.

"What the hell?!" Kallen screamed. "Who the fuck are you?! Why did you do that?!"

Harley blew her bangs and faced the imprisoned Kallen. A look of determination on her face. "I'm one of Lelouch's important asset. Got a problem with that?"

Kallen stared at Harley in complete shock. She did not expected that Lelouch have another important asset aside from her, the red ace.

 _'_ _This is wrong! Has she replaced me?'_ She thought, jealousy creeping from every parts of her body.

"Anyways," Harley started to walk towards the exit, "I still have a Guren to pilot."

"What?!" Both Sayoko and Kallen shouted.

"Master Lelouch never told you to pilot the Guren. All he ever said was to work with me on freeing Kallen!" Sayoko reminded the deranged woman but she knew that it has no effect on her. "Are you out of your mind?!"

"Lelouch would never give the Guren to you, you sick bitch! The Guren is mine!"

"That Guren _was_ yours," Harley gave the two a sadistic smile and dangled the key of Guren in front of her for them to see. "Now, it is _mine_." She gave a mocked bow before exiting the room, leaving the two in state of shock and helplessness.

* * *

"Lelouch we're now approaching the target. ETA, four minutes." Flagg said to his communicator where Lelouch was on the end line.

 _"_ _Good. Make sure to secure her before you made your escape."_ Lelouch replied.

"Copy that, boss."

They rounded a corner and immediately halted when they saw three hostiles waiting on the entrance of throne room where Nunnally awaits. The soldiers spotted them and fired shots at them. Thankfully, though, they wear bulletproofed vests making the damage minimal.

"Fire 'em up, boys!"

The bullet-ridden body of the soldiers dropped on the floor with a loud thud. Flagg and his men sidestepped the bodies and approached the large door. They were about to enter when they found out that it was locked.

"Katana, the bombs," Flagg held out his hand and Katana placed the time bomb, careful to not drop it. He attached the bomb on the door and set it on ten seconds, enough time for them to distance themselves away from the bomb.

"3, 2… 1."

The bomb set off with deafening explosion with chunks of wood and metal flying on different directions. Dusts permeated the air, making it difficult to see around them.

"Move, boys!"

A soldier peeked at the entrance to ensure that Nunnally was really inside the throne room. The soldier grunted in pain when a bullet wheezed past him, the bullet grazing his left arm. Flagg and the soldiers behind him immediately went into action. They returned the shots blindly for they knew that if they bared their bodies in front of the entrance, they would be dead meat in mere seconds even with the bulletproofed vests on their bodies.

"Eliminate the hostiles, boys!" Flagg shouted. He decided to peek on the entrance, careful not to have the hostiles detect him. He has to make sure that none of the bullets they fired has damaged or killed Nunnally.

"Gotcha!" he hissed when he saw a lone soldier protecting Nunnally. They were on the farthest side of the room to get away from the scene but the bullets still went on their way.

"Boss, three more to go!"

"Make it quick! These motherfuckers needs to go down fast or else we'll lose our window to get Nunnally!" He commanded. Not long after he gave the command, the remaining soldiers fell one by one—the remaining one was Nunnally's bodyguard.

"Katana," Flagg said and Katana immediately stabbed her sword on the soldier's chest, instantly killing him and transferring his soul on the sword.

"W-who are you?" Nunnally squeaked. Her voice laced with fear and has hints of determination on her voice.

Flagg crouched down to Nunnally's level and stared at her closed eyes and fearful face. The face of the little girl he always guard whenever Lelouch visited the base.

The face of the little girl who always smiled and wished him good luck whenever they went to a mission.

He would never forget that face.

Flagg placed his hand to top of her own, instantly calming down the girl from her panic.

"You're safe now, Nunnally." He whispered softly to the girl. He wiped the tears that started to flow out of her eyes and smiled softly as she wiped lazily the tears on the sleeve of her gown.

Nunnally cupped his cheeks and he leaned into her hand in hopes of getting warmth from her hand. "It is really you, Rickie."

Flagg smiled at the nickname she made and immediately hugged her.

* * *

Captain Boomerang stared in amazement as he watched Rolo take down the enemies with ease by only using his Swiss knife with the aid of his geass. His power might be limited from what he can see but it does wonders to his enemies.

 _'_ _He's a pretty experienced assassin and he lived up his reputation.'_ He thought. _'Deadshot would be jealous about this!'_

He followed Rolo discreetly as he went on his way to retrieve Nunnally, not realizing that she was already safe. He suspected that Rolo might never return Nunnally alive to Lelouch because as far as he was concerned, Rolo was one jealous motherfucker.

"What?" He snickered when he saw Rolo taking on the mess that Flagg and his men made outside and inside the throne room. Bullet-ridden bodies littered on the floor, the blood and gore decorating their dead bodies. Shells of bullets scattered around the floor, which confused Rolo.

 _'_ _I forgot. The bullets on this world doesn't have brass casings.'_

Captain Boomerang never moved from his hiding spot despite the fact that Rolo has entered the throne room in search of Nunnally. If he did, Rolo would likely spot him and immediately kill him before he can utter a single syllable. He opted for another option by using his boomerang, with a camera attached to it, to spy on the young assassin.

"My god," he breathed, "they literally have a fest earlier and they didn't even invited me."

Rolo might've heard the soft swishing of his boomerang on the air for he stared at it, a frown invading on his visage. Bit by bit, his frown contorted into something sinister as he immediately exited the room in hopes of finding the owner of the boomerang.

Fortunately, for Captain Boomerang, he has predicted what Rolo will do when he first saw his frown on the camera of his phone. He was already distancing himself away from Rolo to avoid any unnecessary confrontations.

* * *

 **Shinkiro**

 _'_ _I have to get away from them! Shit!'_ Lelouch thought as he busied himself on the controls of the Shinkiro. Luciano and his Valkyrie Squad has him captured and couldn't anything but to wait for his reinforcements or wait for some miracle to happen. He has thought about going out and destroyed every single knightmare frame on the battlefield but he couldn't afford to let every person know about his powers.

He has his window of chance when Tamaki's knightmare exploded which captured Luciano's attention. He was quick in disabling his absolute defense system to launch the chest-mounted Diffusion Structure Phase Transition Cannon but regretted the move when the Percival's MVS particle drill-lance penetrated the chest part of the Shinkiro, effectively blocking the launch.

"Just what I was waiting for, Zero!" He cackled. "To go to attack mode, to drop your shield. Now, I will take what you value most and blow it away!"

Lelouch never worried about Luciano blowing him to pieces because he knew that the explosion have an effect on him—it was quite the opposite. He was only worried on how to escape the situation of explaining on the Black Knights on how he was still alive.

Luciano was about to deliver a deathblow to Shinkiro when suddenly, a red blur dashed around them, instantly making the Valkyrie Squadron explode in smithereens. With his enhanced sight, Lelouch was able to see the Guren in action. The said knightmare was different from the last time he saw it, giving him the impression that Lloyd Asplund and Cecile Croomy has already altered and added an array of specifications on the Guren. Their meddling on the knightmare frame has given them a great advantage.

The Guren delivered a massive blow on the Percival before ripping its cockpit off its body and throwing it on the face of the earth after the Guren disabled its flight capabilities.

He can hear the cheers of the Black Knights through the open channel as they watched in pride as Kallen weaved the Guren on the battlefield and killed handful of enemies. Chiba, Asahina and Tohdoh were the ones who first congratulated her but they haven't received any replies yet and that made them suspicious.

Lelouch was about to give orders to her through open channel when a very familiar voice of one Harleen Frances Quinzel thanked the Black Knights.

 _"_ _Oh thank you, thank you! I never knew that this is how you love me!"_ She exclaimed on the open channel. The loud cheering of the Black Knights ceased when they did not heard the voice of Kallen but instead they heard an unfamiliar voice of someone piloting the Guren.

 _"_ _Who the hell are you?!"_ Chiba threatened.

Lelouch face-palmed and sighed in exasperation. It was true that Harley was the first person he considered to pilot the Guren when he first saw it. Given the fact that she lived in different dimension, he decided to abandon the idea and just give it to Kallen.

He found it odd that Harley knew how to pilot the Guren. He never expected that she was familiar with the controls and maneuvers. Perhaps, it was because she always played a game on her PSP—a reluctant privilege given to her by Amanda Waller on their last successful mission.

"Harley! What are you doing there?!" He shouted, not even caring that his subordinates can hear him.

 _"_ _Wait!"_ Chiba exclaimed. _"You knew the pilot?!"_

"Not now, Chiba!" Lelouch turned to his anger to her. "I have no time for any explanations right now!" He closed the open communication to have a much more private conversation with Harley. He couldn't afford to let them hear their conversation because he knew they would immediately jump into conclusions although he bet that they were making their guesses right now.

"How many times do I have to reprimand you on obeying my commands, Harley?" He hissed. "You've always acted against my orders, you idiot!"

 _"_ _Oh, come on, Lelouch!"_ He can already imagine her lips turning into a pout as she explained her side to him. _"Just this once, please?"_

He sighed in irritation. While his reasoning was against the idea of letting Harley in on the battlefield, his tactical side was completely okay with the idea. What she has shown earlier was an astounding attack that gave them an edge. With the number she has incapacitated earlier, his enemy's number has reduced giving them an opportunity to overwhelm and destroy them in no time. She was even in par with Kallen and Suzaku in terms of knightmare battling even though this was the first time she operated the machine.

"Okay," he sighed, "just promise me that you'll obey all my orders during the time you're on the battlefield. Got it?"

He heard the deafening screech of Harley's voice as she celebrated the good news he has delivered. Instead of reprimanding her, he just smiled and shook his head before going into his next task.

He opened the communication to announce the news to his comrades about Harley's involvement in the battle. "My fellow Black Knights!"

Everyone listened to him even the ones who were currently engaged in battle. "Kallen Kozuki is now in our hands!" They cheered loudly.

"Unfortunately, she won't be joining us in our battle," the loud cheering ceased, "but worry no more! For I, Zero, has an ally who are more than willing to help us in our cause."

"Her name is—" His speech was cut off when Harley decided to include herself on the open communication.

 _"_ _The name's Harley Quinn_. _Nice to meet y'all!"_

That was the second time Lelouch slapped his forehead in irritation.

* * *

 **Watchtower**

 **3:35**

"Are you sure about this, Alfred?" Bruce asked as he approached his trusted butler.

Alfred faced him; a grin was on his face. "Why, yes, Master Bruce!"

"You should stay here, Alfred. It's dangerous for you to be involved in such dangerous things."

"Just let him go, Bruce. He's quite capable in defending himself. You won't have a problem about him." Superman clapped his hand on Alfred's back. "Right, Alfred?"

Alfred nodded in agreement to Superman's statement.

"He's going to be holed up in command base. You don't have to be worried about him." Wonder Woman commented, garnering nods of agreement from the rest around them.

"Anyways," Superman interjected, "what's Joker's doing?"

"He's currently on lay low. Probably thinking of a plan to distract Lelouch so he can get to him." Bruce said before opening the portal to the other dimension. His team was now ready to travel.

"Remember what I've said to all of you," he said to the remaining members of the Justice League that would not join them on their adventure, "defend this world at any cost!"

Without saying goodbye, he jumped to the portal with the rest following him. Shouts of goodbyes and cheers overwhelmed the large room of Watchtower's meeting room as they watched their superiors and leaders take on a journey to save their friend.

Damian turned to a blond man behind him. "How about a game of chess, Clovis?"

* * *

 _"_ _Let us remember the days where innocence was still in our hearts. For corruption was rampant nowadays and these memories will lead us to a path of happiness."_

 _-Superman_

* * *

 **Notes:**

1\. The nanite scene with Cornelia was in referenced to David Ayer's _Suicide Squad_. I believe this story would not be complete if I hadn't gave a Code Geass character a nanite.

2\. Where's Deadshot and Killer Croc, you asked? They're currently busy with their _assignment_.

3\. The unnamed Britannian on the cockpit was not Luciano Bradley. He's just an ordinary Britannian soldier.

4\. According to Code Geass Wiki, unlike in real world, brass casings on bullets doesn't exist because they do not use gunpowder as ammunition propellant. They operate by using strong electromagnetic pulse to fire bullets.

5\. Didn't see that one coming, eh?

My longest chapter! Whew! Sorry for the late update. Real life was not treating me so well. Exams, term papers and case studies has been bombarding my college life. Add the fact that a stray cat bit me on my leg. Yay! (Sarcasm)

This chapter would be second to the last chapter before Arc I closes. Arc II will commence with more action and might possibly lead back to Rated M. The side stories will have more chapters during Arc II.

Leave some reviews after you've read this. I'll be glad if you do so.

Cheers!


	12. Turn 11: In the Midst of a Great War II

Turn 11: In the Midst of a Great War pt. II

* * *

 **Tokyo Settlement**

 **4:17**

"I can see them all the way from here." Superman murmured as he watched the on-going battle between Britannian and Black Knight parties.

"That's because you have enhanced sight," Green Lantern humored and then gestured towards their comrades, "unlike us."

Superman smirked, "Touché."

Batman approached them, having been came back from scouring the nearby buildings for any signs of their location. His face was grim as he continued to walk while ignoring the on-going battle.

"Any leads as to where we are?" Green Lantern asked the Dark Knight.

"Shinjuku Ghetto," he said, "and found some dead bodies with Joker's card on them." He threw the cards on the ground for them to see.

Wonder Woman picked up one and inspected it; the image of a Joker was the only thing visible from the blood-tainted card. Her visage twisted into grimace as she continued to inspect the offending thing. "They're starting to wreak havoc on this world."

"That would be the understatement of the year, Wonder Woman," Batman replied, "Joker is always present and early when destruction is the topic. Always has a plan for everything."

"Um, guys?" A meek voice interrupted. They all turned towards the pink-haired girl and waited for what she would say. "Aren't we going to help them?"

"Not now," Batman answered which garnered questioning looks and protests from his comrades. "We need observe first before diving head first to the battle."

"He's right," Superman agreed, "We can't just let ourselves indulge in their predicament without analyzing the situation first. Lives has been taken in this war and if we got careless in our campaign, more lives would be at risk."

"But every time we slack off, more and more lives would be taken, Clark. Do you want that?" Wonder Woman counter-argued. She gazed at the battle scene with a look of trepidation on her face.

"Of course not. No one does," he pointed out, "but many lives would be lost if we act carelessly. We need to plan first."

"Enough with the bickering, you two." Superman and Wonder Woman ceased their verbal and fighting when Batman reprimanded them. "We need to move before we get caught in the fight."

"Don't want to point out the obvious but… where are we going?" Green Arrow asked.

All sets of eyes focused on Batman; eyes full of questions and confusions.

"The Task Force X set up a command base on an island not far from here. It should be suitable for us to stay there and plan."

"They should be able to accommodate the soldiers and equipment that should arrive later in the morning along with the Merlin. I just hope that they would have enough resources to feed thousands of soldiers." Superman added.

"That should be the least of our problems right now." Batman announced and started to walk the opposite direction of the battle, the rest following his lead with one last glance casted towards the clashing knightmare frames.

Green Lantern floated towards the newest member of the Green Lantern Corps, worry and concern etched on his face. "You sure you're okay 'bout this?"

The pink-haired Green Lantern Corps member smiled towards her senior. "Of course, I am. Besides, I don't have any say to all of this."

He studied the girl's face for about ten seconds before sighing in resignation, "Whatever you say, Euphemia."

* * *

Harley studied the retreating figures of the Justice League using the Factsphere sensor of the Guren, not even surprised that they won't interfere with the on-going battle. She concludes that it might be because they still haven't had a solid plan before participating.

Nonetheless, it doesn't change the fact that they're now here and ready to kick the Britannia's ass, hard.

 _'_ _Lelouch doesn't seem to notice their arrival.'_ She thought as she waited for Lelouch to react about their arrival. _'Should I tell him or not?'_

She observed Lelouch as he continued to battle against the Britannian forces with ease and strength oozing from his moves and prowess. _'Nah. It can wait.'_

She cackled loudly as she pierced the enemy knightmare frame on its cockpit with the left hand of the Guren and watched as it explode after she activated the Radiant Wave Surger. The loud scream of its pilot was the only thing she heard before it exploded in smithereens.

"Oh, pathetic Britannians! HAHAHA—Oomph!" She lurched forward when something hit the back of the Guren. After composing herself for three seconds, Harley angrily made the Guren turn around and saw who (or what) hit her.

"You!" She watched as the white and gold knightmare frame, known as Lancelot, retracted its VARIS Rifle and readied its MVS Sword.

"Oho, you wanna play?" She cheerfully exclaimed, a complete contrast to her mood mere seconds ago. She was about to attack when a channel coming from the Lancelot opened. Without hesitating, Harley accepted it.

 _"_ _This ends now, Kallen!"_ An angry voice greeted her after she opened the channel. Her face scrunched up in thought when she heard the name 'Kallen'.

As far as she knows, her name is Harley not Kallen. Harleen Frances Quinzel to be exact.

A lightbulb seemed to glow on top of her head when she realized that the angry speaker must've been referring to the red-haired prisoner back in Government Bureau.

"Uhm, sorry Mister Angry Man but this ain't Kallen Kozuki." She cheerfully replied.

 _"_ _Huh? Who is this?!"_ The man replied, clearly confused with their situation.

Harley smugly smirked, amused by how clueless the pilot of the white knightmare is. "I'm Harley Quinn, your temporary enemy for the day!" She sent a kick to the Lancelot but it blocked the kick by making his sword act as a shield. "But that doesn't mean I would go easy on you!"

Before the Lancelot can fully recover from the Guren's strong kick, Harley levered the Guren's left arm and grabbed the Lancelot's robotic hip before making it explode in smithereens. She watched in pride as she saw the right leg of the Lancelot detached from the exploded hips and fell towards the face of the earth; the result of her attack on the Lancelot.

Unfortunately, the Lancelot was still under the control of the pilot and it seems that the only thing it received from her attack was the exploded hip and detached leg. It still has its MVS sword, VARIS rifle and Blaze Luminous Shield on its arsenal.

Good thing that she wasn't the kind of person who easily gives up.

"Oh, you wanna dance?" She loudly asked. "Then let's do some cha-cha!"

Harley extended the left hand of the Guren and sent it towards the Lancelot. The Lancelot quickly caught it before it could attach to any part of its knightmare and activate the Radiant Wave Surger. While the Lancelot's focus was on the left hand of the Guren, Harley took the opportunity to advance towards the unsuspecting knightmare frame and deliver a punch to its chest plate, making it spiral down towards the face of the earth before regaining balance.

"You are persistent!" She exclaimed as she once more engaged the Lancelot into battle.

* * *

Pure horror was coursing in Asahina's visage as he watched the footage of Zero's genocide in a Britannian facility. His fellow comrades killed men and women, both children and adult, in cold blood.

"What…?" He watched as a bomb exploded on a group of fearful Britannians, instantly killing all of them.

 _'_ _This is genocide!'_ He thought and more screams of horror and help reached his ears. _'They should know about this or else, Kinoshita's death will be in vain!'_

He first contacted Tohdoh to relay his discovery but because he was busy battling an enemy, he decided to just relay it later. He opted for another person, one who can help him in convincing his comrades that Zero is a traitor and a killer.

"Chiba?"

There was a short pause before he continued. "I now have evidences that proves that Zero is a traitor and a killer!"

His outburst got Chiba's attention. Besides from him, Chiba was the only person in the Black Knights whom questions Zero's integrity and motives that started from the very first day they spent their time in prison in Britannia's hand. It was still a sore topic for Chiba to talk about how Zero abandoned the Black Knights in the middle of First Black Rebellion to attend to his own selfish desire. He has a guess that what he attended would not even benefit the Black Knights.

"Is your evidence enough to overthrow Zero and earn our comrades' votes?" She replied with a grunt as she converse with him while she was fighting.

He sent her the files and footages that Kinoshita sent him and captioned, "See for yourself."

He waited five minutes for her reply and when she did, he could hear the anger emanating from her voice.

"I knew it! We should've killed him the first chance we have! If we just acted from the very first, we wouldn't have this trouble!"

Asahina sighed before answering determinedly, "I know that's why I'm going to the Government Bureau to capture Rolo!"

* * *

Harley scrambled to get the Guren's control after the Lancelot fired its VARIS rifle. She managed to block it with the Guren's Radiant Wave Surger but the impact was strong enough to throw off its balance.

"Shit!" She cursed.

She immediately blocked another shot after she regained the air balance of her knightmare. If she hadn't immediately regained the air balance of the Guren, she knew she wouldn't survive the shot aimed at her.

 _"_ _Harley!"_ Lelouch's voice filled her ears as she continued to battle with the Lancelot. _"I'll have the command center hack the Lancelot's software to gain control to it. Just continue to—"_

"No!" She shouted as she angrily slammed the Guren's right hand to the Lancelot's chest plate. "Let me finish this scum! Don't you dare do it!"

 _"_ _Are you sure about it, Harley? Can you handle Suzaku?"_ Lelouch calmly asked.

Harley smirked when she heard the pilot's name. "So, Suzaku's his name, huh?"

She managed to catch the Lancelot's fist mid-punch and she immediately activated the Radiant Wave Surger thus making the whole right arm of the Lancelot explode in smithereens.

* * *

 **Government Bureau**

"Sayoko?" Kallen asked as they rounded a corner and saw numerous dead bodies lying on the floor with blood and gore oozing from the many bullet wounds. Lying amongst them were the brass casings of bullets, the ancient, almost forgotten part of the past guns.

"There is a good chance that Lady Nunnally was already gone before the shooting took place. We should scour the rest of the Government Bureau especially the hangar." Sayoko replied.

"Do you think that crazy girl has something to do with this?"

Sayoko turned around and walked away from the disaster. "Probably yes."

Kallen ran to match Sayoko's pace after picking up a stray machine gun to use.

"How did she found you anyway? How can you be so sure that Lelouch really sent her to aid us?" There was malice and doubt in Kallen's voice when said it but Sayoko chose not to indulge the matter. She just decided to answer her question.

"Master Lelouch called her and she let me talk to him. It was enough evidence to earn her role in this rescue operation."

Kallen was about to answer back when they heard a beeping sound. Sayoko recognized the sound as Harley's ringtone on her phone but she knew that Harley was not around.

"That's Harley's ringtone," she said to Kallen.

Kallen noticed that something was sticking out of Sayoko's back pocket. She reached out and took a flashing object from Sayoko's pocket.

"What's this?" She realized that the sound was coming from the object she was holding and the screen of it was flashing Lelouch's name.

"That's Harley phone. When did she placed it on my pocket?" Sayoko exclaimed and accepted the phone call.

 _"_ _Sayoko,"_ Lelouch greeted. _"No need to for you to find Nunnally. She's already safe."_

"Where is she, Master Lelouch?" Sayoko asked. She found Kallen trying to hear their conversation and took pity on her. She decided to activate the loud speaker of the phone just like what Harley taught her earlier.

 _"_ _Go to the back entrance of the Government Bureau. Harley's team awaits there with Nunnally, ready to escape. I've already informed them about you and Kallen and they're waiting for your arrival."_

"Lelouch?" Kallen interrupted their conversation. "Who is that Harley girl?"

Lelouch stayed silent for a minute. Perhaps he was trying to think about what he would answer. After the long silence that seemed like forever, he answered.

 _"_ _She's my very trusted subordinate. That's all you can know about."_

Then, he hung up.

* * *

 **Avalon**

"Your Highness, we are slowly losing!" One of Schneizel's generals exclaimed. "I do not think we cannot hold out much longer!"

"Your Highness, Major Kollwitz' forces were now wiped out!" Another one exclaimed.

The entire flurry of activity in the command room of the Avalon gives Schneizel a massive headache. They were slowly losing because of the incompetence of his subjects and their whiny attitude that irritates him. He was so sure that he could easily defeat Lelouch because of his strategic superiority compared to the latter.

"Prince Schneizel?" Kanon came to his side and whispered on his ear. "We've confirmed that our prisoner, Miss Stadtfeld, was not the pilot of the improved Guren."

"How sure are you, Sir Maldini?" It was rare for Schneizel to use Kanon's noble name; he only do it whenever a major problem arises where he needs Kanon's complete honesty.

Kanon never cringed nor shifted from his intense stare, having been used to his attitude. "Several of our men has seen Miss Stadtfeld running with a woman dressed as a maid accompanying her."

 _'_ _If it was not Miss Stadtfeld piloting the Guren, then who?'_ Several names of Black Knights, that was capable of piloting it, emerged from his mind. It can be Tohdoh or maybe one of the Holy Swords. Lelouch was even a possible contender for he has proven that he was capable of piloting a knightmare frame, although not greatly.

"They've also reported that several team of soldiers, composing of ten to fifteen in each team, has invaded the Bureau and managed to kidnap Princess Nunnally."

Schneizel snapped his head towards Kanon, eyes wide in worry and fear not for the crippled princess but for the plan B he has composed that involves the said princess. If she were really been kidnapped, plan B would not work and might lead to his possible defeat.

"What should we do, Your Highness?" Kanon asked.

Schneizel was about to give out orders when someone, a general perhaps, shouted.

"Your Highness! The pilot of the Guren has been spotted!"

The blurry real-time footage of the happenings outside the Avalon was slowly clearing as it focused on its target image. He waited until they spotted the Guren and when he did, he saw a provocatively dressed woman, climbing out of the Guren, which was in a deadlock with the Lancelot. The woman bravely crossed from the Guren to Lancelot with a baseball bat on her left hand. She pried open the tightly sealed cockpit of the Lancelot with just her bare hands and grabbed Suzaku Kururugi.

"Run our database for her identity. I want to find out all the information we have on her, now!" Schneizel shouted when he saw his subordinates were just staring dumbly at the live footage in front of them.

"Kanon, inform Sir Kururugi about the FLEIJA's deployment in five minutes." He ordered which Kanon immediately obeyed without any questions asked.

A young major turned to Schneizel from his spot in front of the computer and said, "Your Highness, we have run everything on our database but we could not find any information on her."

Schneizel's brow furrowed in confusion. They have unlimited access on Britannia's biggest database and yet they could not find anything—any information—on the woman?

"There were a couple of people who was close match to the woman in relevance of physical look but still different on every aspects."

"It is like she does not exist until now, Your Highness." Another major piped in.

Schneizel's frown deepened as murmurs of agreement filled the command center of Avalon. They were, too, astounded with the lack of information they have on the woman.

"Your Highness," Kanon said as soon as he entered the command center. "I have informed Sir Kururugi about the deployment."

Schneizel turned back his attention towards the live footage of the battle and saw Sir Kururugi, punching the woman on her stomach and pushing her off the Lancelot. The woman spiraled down towards the face of the earth with no one catching her fall because the rest of comrades were busy fighting.

He smiled triumphantly. "Good riddance."

Little did he know there was someone who caught the woman. A green sphere of light encased the woman that saved her from falling down to the face of the earth.

No one even noticed that someone saved her.

* * *

"You okay, Harley?" Hal Jordan asked as soon as he dropped Harley on the ground. "I thought I wouldn't make it before you crash on the face of the earth."

Harley stood from the ground and dusted the little clothes she has. "I'm quite used to falling, Greenie."

"Why're you here anyway? Thought the Justice League would've plan first before going to a war." She cocked her head to the side.

Hal sniffed in disdain as he relayed to Harley what had transpired to their meeting earlier on the command center of the Task Force X. "We've intercepted a message from Schneizel's aide de camp, Kanon Maldini. We found out that Suzaku Kururugi would deploy the FLEIJA in five minutes."

"If they did deploy that bomb…" he trailed off, looking at the on-going battle around him, "everything within a hundred miles radius would disintegrate into nothing."

* * *

 _"_ _Boys, flanking position!"_ The leader of the Air force squadron, tasked on the east of the battlefield, said to his comrades.

All of them were ready to dive head first to the battle and take the revenge they all craved and wanted. Of course, they were all afraid of what will happen to them. They don't want to die in a world where they don't really belong.

 _"_ _Target all Britannian forces you see. If they managed to climb up in higher altitude, we gonna pull off this mission."_

 _"_ _What about the Black Knights, boss?"_ An unnamed subordinate asked. _"What're we gonna do to 'em?"_

 _"_ _High boss said that we're gonna focus first on Britannian assholes. He'll give a signal when and where but they're going to be untouchables for now."_

 _"_ _Christ, boss!"_ Another one exclaimed. _"Looks like it'll be a one helluva fight!"_

 _"_ _Son,"_ He chuckled. _"You'll gonna love what will happen next!"_ He tightened his grip on the control column of his jet plane and hovered his thumb on the top of it where a red button resides.

 _"_ _Air force squadron to command center, requesting for permission to attack."_

All of them heard a crackle on their earpiece before the all-to familiar voice of Lieutenant Birchwood sounded from the crackle.

 _"_ _Permission granted, boys."_

They all cheered as they activated the missile launchers of their jet planes and targeted the Britannian knightmare frames. Since most of the Britannian knightmare frames doesn't produce a shield and only the elite forces has a shield, it became easier to make them explode in smithereens and inflict damage to the rest.

Loud cheering echoed to their earpieces as they hoot and shout in enjoy as their missiles exploded together with their targets.

 _"_ _Hit 'em up, boys!"_

They simultaneously activated their long-ranged, 120 mm gun and fired at their enemy. They managed to explode five knightmare frames before their enemies fired back at them.

 _"_ _Evasive maneuver, boys!"_ The leader of the Air force said.

They tore through the skies as swiftly as they can, evading the missiles and bullets aimed and fired at them by their enemies. They were thankful that their fighter planes were lightweight that made them fast and sleek compared to the heavyweight knightmare frames their enemies have.

 _"_ _Heads up! Three enemy knightmare frames at 3 o'clock!"_

 _"_ _Johns, Dwayne, flank me. We'll handle those three KFs! The rest of you, climb up higher and rain missiles to the enemies!"_

All of the fighter planes spread out and climbed up at higher altitude. The remaining three stayed at lower altitude to dispatch the three knightmare frames.

 _"_ _Boss, they're opening their Hadron Cannons."_ Dwayne calmly said despite of the life-threatening situation he was currently experiencing.

 _"_ _Someone's tailing us!"_ Johns reported.

The leader tightened his grip on the controller of his fighter plane and replied to his comrades, _"At the count of three, we'll spread out, boys!"_

 _"_ _One…"_ The three enemies ahead of them opened their Hadron Cannons.

 _"_ _Two…"_ The two enemies that tails them accelerated their flight system to catch up with them while readying their own Hadron Cannons.

 _"_ _Three!"_ They spread out when the Hadron Cannons, from ahead and behind of them, fired at them. They managed to get out of their range, making the front enemy fire at the ones tailing them and the ones tailing them fire at the front enemies.

 _"_ _That was so close!"_ They watched as toasted spare parts of the knightmare frames fell towards the face of the earth.

They never noticed that some of the Black Knights, especially Tohdoh and Chiba, were watching them while they were fighting against Britannian forces. Despite their past confrontation, Tohdoh and Chiba could not bring themselves to fire at their past enemies for they were all busy fighting the Britannian forces. They could not even report to Zero about their presence in the battle.

* * *

Hal has managed to return Harley inside the Guren without getting the attention of the Britannian forces. They must have thought that she was dead or maybe they were too busy fighting their enemies to notice what had transpired earlier.

"Harley," Green Lantern said. "Be careful. You need to get out before they deploy the FLEIJA."

"You don't need to worry about me, Greenie," she smirked at him, "that'll be a piece of cake compared to what I've experienced in my past excursions."

Green Lantern must've seen something in Harley's eyes (perhaps, it is the truth behind her words) because he did not bid her a goodbye when he left. He must've know that she intends to escape alive and kicking in the battle.

 _"_ _Good to have you back, Harley."_ Lelouch greeted as soon as she opened the communication channel with Lelouch.

"Of course, I'm be back." She smiled smugly. "I still have unfinished business to attend to."

 _"_ _Anyways,"_ he cleared his throat and continued to talk, _"I'll rendezvous with you there. Do not get away from your position."_

"Yes, boss." She rolled her eyes and replied sarcastically.

* * *

"Suzaku, why don't you just stop?!" Lelouch roared in anger as he made his Shinkiro slammed to Suzaku's Lancelot. "You are allying yourself to your enemies!"

 _"_ _Why would I stop now, Lelouch?!"_ Came Suzaku's reply. _"This is my chance to change Britannia's system from within and I will not waste this chance just to do your bidding!"_

Lelouch grunted as his Shinkiro slammed to Harley's Guren when Suzaku shrugged off his attack. Thankful of his newly regained swift reflex, he managed not to topple a building near them. If he did, he would likely endanger his sister, Flagg and his men.

"Do you think those petty nobles would allow you to change the system they've grown to? Or do you think my father will allow you to?" He asked Suzaku.

"News flash, Suzaku," He bent the Shinkiro's knees and activated its Slash Harkens that caught Suzaku off guard. The Slash Harkens attached to the remaining limbs of the Lancelot. "They won't allow you to!"

Using the Slash Harkens as an advantage, Lelouch slammed to the Lancelot, sending it flying towards Harley. The Guren sent an earth-shattering punch that destroyed most of the chest part of the Lancelot.

"I can kill you easily, Suzaku, but I won't do it because I still believe that you would see the truth and leave Britannia behind. But if you still insist that your side is with Britannia," Lelouch coldly said, "then, I have no more reason to let you live."

* * *

He did not know how Harley Quinn, the temporary pilot of the Guren, managed to get back and control the Guren. For all he know, any _human_ could die and not survive the fall, especially if he or she fell thousands of feet from above the earth.

None of that mattered right now, anyway. What mattered now is the fact that Lelouch and Harley were now working with each other to defeat him.

 _"_ _Suzaku, use deploy the FLEIJA now!"_ Nina's voice echoed through Suzaku's head as he struggled to control the Lancelot and to control the 'live' order he received from Lelouch's demonic powers. He did not know whether he could continue to resist and not succumb to the idea of deploying FLEIJA to kill Lelouch. If he did, he'll kill numerous civilians, not only his fellow soldiers, the Black Knights and Lelouch.

 _"_ _Sir Kururugi,"_ Prince Schneizel's voice replaced Nina's on the communicator. He has a good guess as to why he personally contacted him instead of Kanon. _"You are now authorized to deploy the FLEIJA."_

"But, Your Highness!" He objected. "What about the civilians?"

Prince Schneizel's visage saddened when Suzaku said about the civilians. _"Unfortunately, we could not do anything about them. Most of our forces were currently occupied with their tasks and if we decided to save the civilians, we would be short on men."_

"But…" Suzaku started but Prince Schneizel immediately cut him off.

 _"_ _Sir Kururugi, every war has casualties… and those civilians were merely casualties. If you do not do it, many people will succumb to death in future campaigns of my brother."_

Suzaku pondered what Prince Schneizel has said. It was true that many would die if he let Lelouch live… but he could not afford to kill millions of people.

 _"_ _I can kill you easily, Suzaku, but I won't do it because I still believe that you would see the truth and leave Britannia behind. But if you still insist that your side is with Britannia,"_ He can hear the coldness seeping from Lelouch's voice _, "then, I have no more reason to let you live."_

When Suzaku heard those words uttered from Lelouch's mouth, the geass command took command of his reasoning. Before he can stop what he was doing, he flicked the cover of the red button that would deploy the FLEIJA and pushed the aforementioned button.

* * *

"I've just finished sending the civilians to safety," Flash said to his communicator as he conversed with Batman who was taking control of the command center. "What would I do next?"

 _"_ _Hold up, Flash,"_ Batman stayed silent for a couple of minutes. Flash waited patiently for Batman's reply and thankfully, he replied sooner.

 _"_ _Schneizel just issued an order to deploy the FLEIJA and Suzaku Kururugi's just a minute away in deploying it."_

"What do you want me to do?" He asked, confusion clouding his mind.

 _"_ _Are you a fool? Get out of there, now!"_

Flash started to run as fast as he could to escape the explosion that would take place to where he was.

* * *

 **Government Bureau**

"Uhm, are you…?" Kallen asked a buffed soldier dressed in unfamiliar clothes.

"Harley Quinn's team? Yes, we are, young lady." He replied.

"And we are waiting for the two of you to arrive to escape." A tall soldier approached them. He was wearing the same clothes like the first soldier but there was something, which made him different from the first one. Perhaps, it is because of the authoritative voice he used?

"Let's go before someone attacks us."

Without another glance to them, the two soldiers left Sayoko and Kallen rooted on their position. They looked at each other before following the two soldiers until they saw a large military truck (different from what the Britannian soldiers used) full of soldiers.

"Lady Nunnally!" Kallen turned and saw Nunnally among the soldiers. She does not show any fear towards the men. She was even conversing with some of them.

"Sayoko! Kallen!" Sayoko hugged the crippled princess before turning back to the men who kept her safe. "Thank you for keeping her safe."

"It's our job, Miss" One of them replied.

"Where is Rick?" Nunnally asked, making Sayoko and Kallen confused. As far as they knew, they do not know any person who bears that name.

"In here, Nunnally." They turned around and saw the soldier with authoritative voice from earlier. "We're ready to go."

The truck slowly advanced, careful of the fallen debris that scattered on the road. As the minutes goes by, the truck accelerated but still careful not to juggle those inside of it.

"What's that, boss?" A soldier pointed far away.

All of them looked at where the soldier pointed and saw a red streak of lightning heading fast towards them. None of them, except for Sayoko and Kallen, looked bothered because they know what is was.

Rather, _who_ it was.

"The Flash is here?" Rick asked, a frown was on his visage.

"Ba—Flash?" Nunnally almost revealed Flash's identity but managed to mask her slip. "He's here?"

The red streak caught up with the truck and entered inside. Sayoko and Kallen readied their weapons for defense if the need arise.

"Looking good, Nunnally?"

Kallen and Sayoko looked at the owner of the voice and saw a man dressed in red spandex with yellow lightning symbol on his chest. His mask concealed his face, allowing no one to know his identity. There were red streaks of lightning surrounding the very air around him.

"Flash!"

Flash blurred towards Nunnally, which caught Sayoko and Kallen off guard. They never knew someone who could move fast as he did.

"Good to see you, Nunnally. It's been too long."

* * *

"They're retreating!" Tohdoh exclaimed as he watched their enemies' hasty retreat. It was probably because they were losing... or maybe it was part of their plan.

However, Tohdoh knew that something was amiss.

It was not Britannia's habit to retreat in a battle where they still have a chance to win. For them, retreating means that they are announcing their submission to their enemy.

Britannia was not like that.

Xing-ke must have noticed about it too for he ordered the Ikaruga fleet and their comrades on the battlefield to hastily retreat.

 _"All units pull back at full speed!"_ Xing-ke's shout echoed to every communication channels of Black Knights. His command coupled with his hysteric shout was enough to rouse the panic and fear among his comrades. They hastily made their retreat with only the Lancelot, the Guren and the Shinkiro remaining on the battlefield.

Those who were on the safe distance watched in shock as the Lancelot, piloted by Knight of Seven Kururugi Suzaku, fired a glowing sphere towards the Shinkiro. They saw how the Shinkiro and the Guren dodged the glowing sphere and how the Lancelot landed a swift punch on the Shinkiro's chest plate that made the Shinkiro come closer towards the glowing sphere.

* * *

"What's happening out there?" Rick asked as he and his comrades stared across the sky where a sphere was glowing and illuminating the dark sky.

The Flash followed Rick's line of sight and saw the thing that would disintegrate the whole Tokyo Settlement into dust.

"Goddamn it!" He shouted which caught them off guard.

"What is it?" Kallen asked.

"Can this thing go any faster?!" The Flash exclaimed.

"We're already going seventy miles per hour!" The driver in front shouted.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" The Flash cursed before leaping outside of the truck.

"Where'd he go?!" Kallen exclaimed.

The truck suddenly lurched forward as it accelerated its speed. The surroundings around them blurred as they speed through the ruined city.

However, no matter how fast they went, they still saw the slowly expanding of the glowing sphere as if it was eating the objects around it. The close objects disintegrated and was slowly approaching the Guren and the Shinkiro.

"No..." Kallen watched as the light slowly approached the Shinkiro. "Zero!"

Amidst the chaos and destruction that the sphere has caused, a larger green light akin to a Blaze Luminous Shield System of Knightmare Frames, has enveloped the sphere.

"What…?" Kallen's mouth hung open as she witnessed the sphere exploded inside the green shield with no casualties besides from those objects that it first disintegrated.

"What happened?" Sayoko asked.

They followed the source of the green light and saw a man, floating several thousand feet off the ground. The green light seemed to be emanating from his left fist that he aimed at the once glowing sphere.

"Why am I not surprised that a Green Lantern was the one who stopped that abomination instead of Superman?" Rick muttered as he watched the Green Lantern lower his fist and faced the shocked audiences.

He constructed a large megaphone using his ring, which shocked the every person who were witnessing the whole event with the exception of Lelouch and those who knew what the Green Lantern could do.

* * *

"All of you, listen up!" Hal spoke through the megaphone, which reverberated throughout the whole settlement. _"This war ends now!"_

 _"_ _Who are you to tell us that?"_ Schneizel's reply echoed throughout the entire settlement. His voice was full of curiosity with a hint of anger on its surface.

"Who I am?" Hal mockingly pointed to himself to emphasize his point. "I am an intergalactic officer under the Green Lantern Corps, stationed at Space Sector 2814 and I am here to stop all this madness and save the innocent lives from all of you!"

- **-END OF ARC I-**

* * *

No notes for now, guys. Anyways, sorry for the late update. Been busy with college lately 'cause we only have one week before our school year ends. I have to prioritize my exams and reports first before I finished making this chapter. Don't worry! I'll gonna have several months of free time before another school year starts.

Another thing... this chapter is the last of ARC I. ARC II will commence on the last week of March and the start of my summer. I'm not actually confident with this chapter because I haven't had time to think without my exams bombarding my mind. I honestly think I can do better than this chapter I presented to you guys. But still, I need your insights so don't hesitate to leave your reviews or PMs.

Cheers! :)


	13. Arc II, Turn 12: Unknown Liaisons

ARC II, TURN 12: Unknown Liaisons

* * *

 **Avalon**

 **6:32**

"Intergalactic officer?!" Kanon laughed as he continued to watch the scene from outside of the Avalon. "That guy is a joke!"

The fact that the guy is wearing the tightest green suit, besides from the suit of a knightmare frame pilot, was enough to elicit a loud laugh from him. Loud enough to draw the attention of those around him.

"That man is not just a joke, Kanon." Schneizel said seriously, making Kanon stop from his laughing.

"Look at what he is doing," he pointed to the screen that shows the guy, "he is hovering several thousand feet above the ground with no flight-enabling device attached to his back and the fact that he managed to stop the FLEIJA, was enough to warrant our attention."

"Your Highness!"

A shout coming from one of his generals captured the attention of Kano and Schneizel. They immediately approached the hysterical general.

"What is it, General Mikaels?"

"The over-all operating system of the Avalon got corrupted!"

"What?!" Both Kanon and Schneizel exclaimed in apparent shock and nervousness.

When Schneizel ordered the construction of Avalon, he expected it to be the most advance warship in terms of technology and defense. He put every military concerns on the top of his list to avoid any hassle and problems when in the middle of a war. Every defensive weapon in its arsenal was enough to clear out a hundred knightmare frames. Its over-all operating software handles and maintains every weapon and Blaze Luminous Shield to allow the military personnel onboard to focus on their tasks and to lessen the work.

Since no technology could bypass and corrupt a Britannian technology (or any technology for that matter), it would be impossible to gain control on the over-all operating software of the Avalon. Hacking it would definitely fail for it would take time to hack the existing software of the Avalon. If their enemies succeeded, it would still surely fail in a matter of hours because they have installed a program, alongside the over-all operating software of the Avalon, which could negate any possible hacking. Hacking was a tedious job to do for it was always done manually. No man has developed any program or software that could lessen the work of the hackers nor completely corrupt any technology that exists.

However, they now knew that someone has.

"I cannot get any access to the over-all operating software, Your Highness! Anything I do, it completely shuts me out." The onboard programmer and software engineer of the Avalon said.

"Your Highness, Blaze Luminous Shielding was approaching to zero percent!"

"Your Highness, defensive weapons are offline!"

As if a maestro orchestrated it, problems in regards to the Avalon has started to occur simultaneously. Every general onboard reported was starting to panic because of the problems they have encountered.

"Your Highness, what are we going to do?!" One of his generals, General Mikaels, said.

Schneizel snapped his head towards the general in irritation. "You are the general! Why are you asking me?!"

"Your Highness!" Someone shouted, pointing towards the large screen that overlooks the battle outside the Avalon.

Schneizel dreaded to look at what the man has been pointing but he disregarded the feeling and looked at the screen. What he saw shocked him.

 _'Warning! Blaze Luminous Shielding Offline.'_

"Goddamn it!" Schneizel screamed in frustration and irritation as he watched every delicately executed plan of his fall into nothingness.

"Floating System on level three are currently offline!"

"Energy reserves are online!"

"Your Highness, we need to start evacuating the premise." Kanon calmly told him, despite the chaos that was happening around them. "The Avalon is bound to fall any minute now."

"No! We will not abandon this ship!" Schneizel argued. "There must be something we could do to turn the tides in our favor."

He turned to the nearest major. "Give me the live footage of the floating green man!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" The major quickly brought up the live footage of the chaos brought by the green man outside. There was no activity coming from both the green man and the Black Knights, which was a good news for it means that both enemies were not aware of their problems. However, they should now act quickly before they could manage to find out about it and do something that would not definitely benefit them.

"Are the weapons still offline?" Schneizel asked the major from earlier.

The major made a quick scanning for the weapons' status before giving the blond prince an answer.

"They're still offline, Your Highness!"

"Are there any manually-loaded weapons we could use?" Kanon interjected.

The major turned back to his computer to check once more and was successful to come up with positive answer.

"There was a couple of offline knightmare frames in the lower level of the Avalon. Two knightmare frames are fortunately loaded with Hadron Cannon, enough to make a ginormous explosion and damage to one-third of the Black Knights' army. If handled wisely, we could wipe out forty percent of the Black Knights."

Schneizel smiled softly when he heard the good news. He was confident that their shot would be a successful one.

"Good. That would work for us." He turned to Kanon. "Contact Sir Kururugi and tell him to get back here. We need him to pilot one of the two knightmare frame."

"What about Sir Weinberg and Lady Alstreim, Your Highness?"

He has completely forgotten about the two but he was thankful that Kanon reminded him of them. It just showed that he still has chance to subdue Lelouch and his petty Black Knights. The three knights would be his ticket to victory against the Black Knights and a step closer to the throne of his father.

"Tell the two to engage the green man and Lelouch in a fight. I do not care if the man has no weapons; kill him if need be but I prefer him alive to interrogate him about this 'intergalactic officer' thing." Kanon nodded in acceptance and proceeded to contact Sir Kururugi to pass on the prince's message.

"Oh, and Kanon?" Kanon stopped what he was doing and looked at his liege with confusion. "Contact Sir Waldstein and inform him that we need reserve troops. Inform him also that we need his utmost help."

* * *

 _"Hey, Lelouch!"_ Hal Jordan's voice blared from Lelouch's communicator. _"Why aren't the Avalon doing anything?"_

"There must be something happening inside. I'll check it out."

Using his super hearing ability, Lelouch spied on the enemy's enormous fortress.

 _"There was a couple of offline knightmare frames in the lower level of the Avalon. Two knightmare frames are fortunately loaded with Hadron Cannon, enough to make a ginormous explosion and damage to one-third of the Black Knights' army. If handled wisely, we could wipe out forty percent of the Black Knights."_

"Someone sent a virus on the Avalon? I think I know who it is." Lelouch smiled evilly as he continued to spy on his enemies. They don't know that someone was completely spying among them and they unconsciously leak out important details on their offensive and defensive tactical strategies.

After hearing Schneizel giving permission to Kanon to contact Bismarck for assistance, Lelouch halted his spying. He only need several small details on their tactics to know and calculate their moves. It was like a chess; he'll always know what his opponent would do with just simple hints that may look trivial to others.

"Hal, Harley," he opened the communication channel, "you two will engage the Avalon. Don't kill the hostiles inside; just give them a preview of our powers."

 _"You sure about it, Lelouch? They'll have a chance to escape!"_

"That's included in the plan, Hal. Let them escape. I don't fucking care."

He knew Hal wouldn't approve of it. With Hal being impulsive and careless, he'll definitely want to fight Schneizel and his troops any day and he, making Schneizel escape, would be an insult to his ego.

Lelouch was about to speak once more when another familiar voice interrupted him.

 _"Just follow Lelouch's plan, Hal. He's more familiar to it than you."_

"Ah, father!" Lelouch greeted. "Nice to hear your modulated voice!"

 _"And nice to hear you, too, Lulu."_

It was rare to hear Batman joking but when Lelouch did, he knew that he was partly serious about it, too.

"I knew what you did, father. How did you managed to slip a severe virus inside the Avalon's software?"

There was a few second silence on the other end of the line before Batman answered his question.

 _"I have someone deliver a package."_

* * *

"What… just happened?"

Kallen and Sayoko were both sure that Lelouch would not survive the explosion. They helplessly watched as they sphere slowly disintegrate the objects near it and turn it into dust. Unexpectedly, the sphere's destruction halted when a green light illuminated the sphere. A man emerged after the supposed explosion, claiming that he was an intergalactic officer.

"That man, ladies, is a Green Lantern."

They both turned to Rick, who was also observing the man above.

They felt the truck suddenly stop and immediately went on to see why the Flash did so.

"What happened? Why did you stopped?"

The Flash zoomed in front of Rick, Kallen and Sayoko.

"I just received an intel from Batman." He said. "The virus has successfully infiltrated the whole operating system of Avalon."

This made Kallen confused. "Wait, what? No technology can infiltrate a highly secure network and operating systems of Britannia, let alone the Avalon."

"Not unless they use malwares and worms to hack the Avalon's system, which, by the way, was clearly vulnerable despite its highly secured technological system."

"What do you mean?"

Rick turned to Kallen. "He means computer virus."

"Britannia and other nations gave the advance technology a high importance. They've spent millions of money to improve and create technological breakthroughs, which kept computer engineers busy. No one developed a system that could infiltrate the technology because they knew that no one would dare to destroy their successful works in the technology. They were all content with what they have and done."

"And all of this world's technology would be highly susceptible once we unleash the computer virus." Rick continued.

Kallen and Sayoko were amazed with what the two said although they weren't quite sure that they understood what they have said. The only thing they caught was Britannia, or any technology from other nations has, would definitely lost to the game.

"Do you think it could affect knightmare frames?"

"I just did, Miss Stadtfeld." They all turned towards a bearded man, who was tinkering on a computer. "I just hacked your Guren."

* * *

"Okay, Lelouch, what the fuck's happening?" Harley said as she tried to regain control of the Guren but was unsuccessful to do so.

 _"What the fuck are you talking about?"_ Lelouch said and added a grunt at the end when he received a blow from his enemies.

"I can't control the Guren!"

 _"That would be my fault, Harley."_ Batman's voice interrupted the talk between Harley and Lelouch. _"I gave orders to someone to hack the Guren."_

"Why'd you that, Batsy?!"

While she so focused to taking control of the Guren once again, she failed to notice the Mordred's attack.

"Shit!" She grunted in pain when the force of the Mordred's attack made her head collide against the metal wall of the cockpit. She could feel her blood dripping from the open wound she received from the collision but it did not deterred her making an effort to return the attack despite her lack of control on the Guren.

 _"I need to get information on the specs of Guren. The lack of control you've experienced was just temporary; it will come back once the hacker have finished gathering the information I needed."_

"Well, he better hurry, lest you want to see me dead!"

* * *

"So… let's see," Hal smirked as he observed the incoming knightmare frames. "Five KFs wants me dead. How long would it take for me to destroy those shiny toys of theirs?"

He saw the knightmare frames' simultaneous deployment of missiles that were heading toward him. He immediately set up a shield using his ring to protect him from the onslaught.

"That's what you've all got?!"

Hal constructed his own knightmare frame, imitating the look and specs of Lelouch's Shinkiro. He immediately targeted his enemies before they managed to round him up and rain missiles towards him again. He watched as all of his enemies exploded into smithereens and fall towards the face of the earth. None of the pilots survived.

 _"Hal, Mordred's on twelve o'clock."_ He heard Batman's gruff voice on his earpiece.

Hal successfully dodged the beam sent by the Mordred's Stark Hadron Cannon but it grazed through his will-constructed knightmare frame. The beam that went through him blasted several knightmare frames behind him, Black Knights and Britannians alike.

"Not bad for a kid."

He retaliated by constructing humongous sword and slashed the Mordred's Stark Hadron Cannon, making it weaponless and vulnerable. The only weapon it now has was its Miniature Proximity Missile Launchers, which was not enough for him and his ring.

 _"Take her."_ Batman commanded.

Hal complied and approached the Mordred to take but stopped when he collided with the Mordred's Blaze Luminous Shield that was preventing him to gain close proximity to Mordred. He knew it would be long before he could take the girl out because of the shield.

"Come out there, little girl!"

He constructed a large drill and started drilling a hole in the shield. The shield's surface revealed a small hole that was getting bigger the more he drilled.

When the hole was big enough, he immediately disintegrated the drill and quickly entered inside the shield before it close up and prevent him from gaining entrance once again. He headed to the Mordred's cockpit as soon as he gained entrance and forcedly opened it with his bare hands.

"There you are, little girl."

He saw the pink haired pilot of the Mordred aiming a Britannian pistol towards him as a last resort of defense. Constructing a shield around his body made it easier for him than to actually dodge the bullets.

"Are you finished?" He asked the girl when the bullets ran out. He saw the masked fear behind her passive face, which made him sure that she would go to any lengths just to get out of her situation. Her brevity was astounding and her sheer will would surely place her in the Corps… if she was one of the good guys (girl).

"Don't!" The pilot said but Hal placed his hand on her mouth and grabbed her out of the cockpit of the Mordred before flying down. The girl's muffled screams irritated him to no end but since she was a little girl, he tolerated it for her sake.

When he finally located the people he was searching for, he immediately landed in front of them and lowered the girl on the ground.

"Anya Alstreim…" The red haired girl gaped at the pink-haired girl, apparently named Anya, before directing her gaze to him. "How…?"

"What you got here, GL?" He heard Flag's voice before he saw him.

"The Mordred's pilot. Kinda surprised when I saw this little girl." He messed the girl's hair but immediately retracted his hand when she attempted to swat it. "She's a little firecracker, be careful."

"Green Lantern, my man!" He saw Barry lazily approaching him.

"Finished evacuating the whole city?"

"Yep. Took thirty seconds to evacuate all the people on to the safe places away from Tokyo." Flash bragged.

Hal arched an eyebrow at Flash's reply. "Thirty seconds? You're losing your touch man."

"Not really." Flash lifted his left for a high five and Hal immediately raised his hand to return the favor but before he could, Flash twisted his hand to his back.

"Not so fast, Greenie."

"Fuck off." He replied.

"You knew each other?"

Both turned to face the red head girl who was wearing a mask of seriousness beneath her fear.

"Of course. We knew each other. We're best buds!" Flash put his arm on Hal's shoulder to emphasize his point.

"Anyways," Hal took Flash's arms off his shoulders, "I need to go. Where's Nunnally?"

"She's right there." Flag pointed to the truck where Nunnally was currently staying.

Without any words, Hal quickly took off to get to Nunnally and tell his greetings. He found her talking with her maid about Lelouch.

"Nunnally…?"

* * *

"Don't even try to escape, kid." Rick told Anya as he put handcuffs on her. "You'll just end up with a bullet on your head. We wouldn't want that now, would we?"

Kallen knew that Rick would be true to his threat. She might not knew him personally but she had seen enough to know that he was a ruthless soldier and leader. His leadership skills might not be in par with Lelouch's but it was enough to push his subordinates into limits, an impossible feat even for those who were born to be leaders.

"Let me go and you won't be killed." Anya countered defiantly.

Rick smirked at her before taking her inside the truck where Nunnally and Green Lantern was talking.

Kallen was about to follow when she realize that there was something amiss.

 _'If Flash and Green Lantern knew Nunnally, then is it possible that…'_ she looked up where the battle was currently on-going and saw the Shinkiro battling against the Lancelot and the Tristan, _'Lelouch knew this guys, too?'_

 _'Are they the ones that staged an attack to Tohdoh and the others? If so, does Lelouch knew that?'_

"Hey! Aren't you going inside the truck?"

She turned her head and saw Green Lantern floating in front of her several inches above the ground.

"They're bound to leave any minute now."

Green Lantern was about to take off but Kallen stopped him.

"Wait!"

"Now, what?" He said, irritated.

"I've got a question—" Green Lantern rudely interrupted her speaking.

"I've gotta go. Ask the questions later."

And he took off, leaving an equally irritated and confused Kallen.

"How rude." She said before going back to the truck.

* * *

 _'Warning: System Overload. Emergency System Shut Down will commence in five minutes.'_

"Shit!" Lelouch cursed as he took another brunt of the Tristan's attack.

 _'Warning: Energy Fillers on Low. Refill before—'_

"I fucking know!" He cursed aloud.

Lelouch made a drastic move by activating the Absolute Defense System of the Shinkiro to dodge the Tristan's attack orchestrated by Gino. It cut the Shinkiro's energy into half and placed him into a very critical situation.

 _"Lelouch, get out of that KF, now! Don't risk your identity just to spite the pilot of the Tristan and the Lancelot."_ Batman commanded.

"If I eject now, then they'll surely catch my escape pod!" Lelouch grunted.

 _"I'll have Hal capture your escape pod."_

Lelouch blocked the attack from the Lancelot and returned it by sending missiles on the damaged machine. He cursed as the impact of the Lancelot's attack made a massive energy drop on the Shinkiro.

"I need a distraction first. Send in Superman!"

 _"He's on it."_

* * *

"We only have three knightmare frames on reserve, Your Highness. What shall we do?" Kanon whispered to him.

Schneizel inhaled angrily as he continued to watch the ongoing battle where his troops were slowly losing. Lelouch has fared well because of the annoying 'Intergalactic Officer' halting their deployment of FLEIJA bomb that would surely kill his little brother and his troops and ensure his win.

"That 'intergalactic officer'…" Schneizel said to Kanon. "Do you think we could get him to our side?"

"What do you mean, Your Highness?" Kanon asked, confusion on his face.

"I think he was not on the Black Knight's side since he attacked some. He was a third party on this battle and might hold the piece in winning. He was a wild card; a neutral piece."

He took the white king chess piece and twirled it on his hand.

"Do you think we could manipulate him and use him to finish the Black Knights?"

"Your Highness!"

Schneizel turned swiftly towards the source of the outburst and saw a frantic young man.

"An object approaching at Mach nine and increasing!"

"Your Highness! Incoming reserve troops from the Emperor has been eliminated by the object!"

"What?! Tell me what happened!" He approached the man who told him the bad news.

"From what we the video feed they have sent us before they were eliminated, a fast approaching red and blue object destroyed the entire fleet of reserve troops in just a matter of seconds!"

"Could you get a cleared version of the footage for me to analyze it?"

The soldier shook his head before replying, "I'm sorry, Your Highness. It was the clearest version we could get."

"Damn it!" He cursed.

"Perhaps we will see it in our very own eyes…"

Schneizel turned towards Kanon who was staring intently at something on the screen. He followed his line of sight and saw a man, wearing a red and blue costume, grabbing a knightmare frame and hurling it towards the other before making it explode by shooting laser beams on his very own eyes.

"What the hell…?"

* * *

 **Undisclosed Location**

 **7:45**

"This place is stinkin'!" Deadshot exclaimed as he pried open a door and entered an underground sewer. "This should be your new home, KC."

"Shut up, Lawton." Killer Croc muttered. "Just get the job done or else Lelouch's gonna kill us."

"Why we gotta head here anyway? We could just waltz in the entrance of that friggin' building and take her!"

"Would you just keep doing your job and quit whining and complaining! Geez, you're not that kind of person, Lawton."

"Perhaps I'm just entertaining myself by irritating you."

They walked around the sewer for about five minutes before stopping below the covered manhole somewhere at the end of the sewer. They climbed up and uncovered it before emerging at an alley.

"Is that the building?" Killer Croc asked.

Deadshot looked at the towering building beside the alley, a pensive look on his face.

"This is it."

They readied their weapons before forcibly entered through the back door of the building, scaring the people inside.

"It's showtime."

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

 _'Lulu… I hope you are safe.'_ Shirley prayed as she thought about the ongoing battle that was happening outside.

She and C.C. were inside Lelouch's room with nothing to do besides thinking about the battle and worrying about what will happen to him. Lelouch gave a strict order not to go outside because there might be someone who would suspect her as a spy from Britannia. C.C. even agreed with what Lelouch has said.

"Are you worrying about Lelouch?" C.C. said, interrupting her of her musings.

She was about to answer when suddenly, the door of Lelouch's room opened and a mysterious man entered. He was wearing a black costume with black cape; a symbol of something that resembles a bat was on his chest.

She heard C.C. gasped softly, almost inaudible that she doubted she even heard it.

"Ladies," his spoke with distortion on his voice, "you're going with me."

* * *

 **VERY IMPORTANT NOTE:**

I'm IGNORING the NO KILL rule of Batman (and Superman). They were originally killing people (Batman, although Superman rarely killed) in their earliest comics. Their (Batman's actually) No-Killing code was just applied in recent versions (I think 1940's).

Seriously? Where's the fun in that?

I know what you're all thinking. If I'm ignoring the No-Kill rule of Batman, then why the hell Joker still exist in this story? Ah, let's just pretend that Joker was sneakier than he already was. Always evading Batman.

So… what you all guys think about this chapter? Shorter, I know. I'm leaving the rest to the next chapter where the real fun begins.

Leave reviews so that I know what you think of.

Cheers! :)

P.S: Have you seen the Justice League trailer?


	14. Turn 13: Desperation and Reunions

ARC II, TURN 13: Desperation and Reunions

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

 **August 8, 2018**

 **7:50**

The bomb Deadshot attached to the metal doors exploded with a loud boom that set the alarms blaring inside the building. Shouts of fear were overwhelming the building as Deadshot and Killer Croc barged in on the building with Deadshot armed with guns and Killer Croc armed with his freaky looks.

' _Bet they're all afraid of Killer Crocs looks, not to the guns.'_ Deadshot thought.

"Listen, you Britannian bigoted fools!" Deadshot shouted but none of the people heard the words he said for they were busy shouting for help and crying for mercy.

"I said listen!" He shouted once again as he fired shots out of his rifle, effectively silencing the noisy people.

Deadshot looked at them in warning before continuing with his objective.

"Okay," he dropped his rifle onto a nearby table and sat on a chair, "I am here in search of a person. A girl named Milly Ashford."

* * *

 **Avalon**

Schneizel's eyes were wide open as he watched the newly entered man on the current war. His mind was on a state of shock as he watched the man punched and kicked his way across the lit morning sky.

"What... what is this?" Kanon voiced aloud.

"Your Highness, sixty-seven percent of our troops are now down!"

Schneizel looked at the man who said the grave news; shock still apparent on his eyes.

"Sir Waldstein's back-up troops reported fifty-nine percent loss when the man intercepted them before heading to the battle."

Schneizel looked back at the battle and saw the man in blue costume and red cape punched a Black Knight knightmare frame when it tried to attack.

"Is there a background on this man on our database?" He said when he snapped out of his stupor.

"Nothing, Your Highness. We have nothing on them."

Schneizel flung the objects on the desk near him and screamed in frustration at his subordinates.

"How can this be happening?!"

Most of his men stared at him with fear on their eyes but some continued on in their tasks. Kanon, however, just continued to let his liege scream out his frustration caused by their losing battle.

"We have imposed strict law about establishing identity on our database in case problems like this should ever come! Preparation was done long ago and yet we are losing?!"

A young major hesitantly raised his hand up and Schneizel turned on him, fire was blazing on his eyes from rage.

"What?!"

"Uhm... Your Highness. T-the Shinkiro has... ex-exploded."

The major stuttered, fear was apparent on his face and he was sweating profusely.

Schneizel turned back to the battle that was broadcasting on the command center and there he saw the Shinkiro's remains spiraling down to the face of the earth.

"Is it possible that Zero is now dead?" Kanon asked.

"Did any of you saw if Zero ejected out of the Shinkiro before the explosion?"

All of them shook their heads no to his question.

"Incompetent fools!" Schneizel hissed at them.

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

"Who… who are you?" Shirley asked as she started to distance herself away from the man. C.C. stayed rooted on her place.

"I'll tell you," he said, "later."

"And why should we go with you?" C.C. bravely asked, never even concerned if she was angering the man with her defiance.

The man never spoke for a couple of seconds. He just kept staring at them as if he was waiting patiently for them to come with him and not asked by C.C.

When they were both sure that he would not answer C.C.'s question, he spoke and caught them off guard.

"Because Lelouch asked me too."

He composed a small smirk on his face when he saw the widened eyes of the two girls when he spoke Lelouch's name.

"Why should we believe you?" C.C. asked, still doubting the man.

' _He has the symbol. Is he…?'_ C.C. thought.

"Because I am one of the people he can truly trust."

* * *

"Your glare won't scare me away, _princess_." GQ said as he flipped a page on a magazine he was reading. "You better save that glare of yours to the rightful ones."

He heard Cornelia huffed in anger but did not acknowledge it. As far as he know, paying her no attention would stop from what she was doing and accept the fact that there's no way she would escape from his clutches.

 _"GQ? GQ, do you copy?"_

Flag's voice coming from his walkie-talkie made GQ stop from what he was doing and focus on Flag. The magazine he was once reading was now lying on the floor, mere feet away from the bound princess.

"This GQ, Flagg."

A loud noise coming from Flag's background suggests that they were on a running vehicle.

 _"We're moving out. Return to the base with the prisoner, over."_

GQ scratched the back of his neck in confusion. He could feel Cornelia's eyes on him as he continued to talk to his superior.

"Send out a chopper and tell 'em to meet us outside."

He started to pick up his rifle and backpack and approached Cornelia to unbind her.

 _"Negative, GQ."_

GQ frowned and stopped unbinding Cornelia.

 _"It's dangerous to send out a chopper in your location. Moreover, the battle's still raging. You'll gonna end up being targeted."_

GQ's jaws clenched as he tried subside the anger in him but failing to do so.

"So, you saying we're on our own?!" He exclaimed angrily.

Cornelia took advantage GQ's diverted attention and started to finish the bindings on her hands as quietly as she could while still listening to him and Flag attentively.

 _"I will send you the coordinates where you can rendezvous with Batman. Meet him there."_

"Wait. What?" He asked, surprise lacing every word he said. "Batman's here?"

 _"Yes."_

There was a loud explosion in the background and he heard Flag cursed despite the loud explosion that took place. He was about to ask about what was happening when Flag beat him to it.

 _"GQ, I'll send the coordinates in your pad. Do what I said and meet Batman there."_

He cursed loudly as gunfires started in the background, barely hearing Flag's voice as he continued to speak.

 _"Damn it!"_

It was the last thing he heard before the communication was cut. He stared at the walkie-talkie he was holding, hopeless and helpless as he thought about not being able to help his comrades.

"Okay."

He said determinedly as he turned around to finish unfastening Cornelia's binds-thoughts about his comrades' well-being pushed on the back of his mind as he do his current task.

"Okay, princess. We need to go-"

He was unable to finish his sentence as several bullets struck his torso that left him bleeding profusely on the floor.

"D-damn... you..."

He said as he succumbed to unconsciousness; the image of Cornelia holding his gun loaded with a silencer was the last thing he saw.

* * *

"What the fuck's happening out there?!" Tamaki shouted. "First, some chick replaced Kallen on her Guren. Then, that green man floating in the air stopped something from exploding. Now, this?!"

In front of him was Ohgi, busy assessing and giving orders to other Black Knights on the field and in Ikaruga as per Zero's command. He was also busily ignoring Tamaki's irritating loud voice and equally irritating presence.

Concentrated on the task as he may have been but a person could easily tell that something was on his mind.

 _'Who are those people?'_ He thought.

 _'What are they?'_

"Ohgi, we could not locate the Shinkiro!"

Ohgi's concentration broke when Minami relayed the news about Zero.

"What?!" Tamaki exclaimed first, beating Ohgi.

"Have we managed to get a feed where he was last seen?"

Minami immediately went to work and searched for the feed that Ohgi mentioned. He was on to it for several minutes before he managed to bring a video feed on the large monitor in front of them.

"No!"

Tamaki collapsed on his knees when the video of the Shinkiro exploding emerged. This also left the rest of the Black Knights in the control room in shock as they watched their leader's knightmare frame explode. They were also equally surprised that no one managed to notice its explosion despite its loudness. They deduced that it might be because they were all busy handling the shock and surprise they felt when the two unknown men decided to enter the battlefield and the fact that they have an overwhelmingly large number of work to do.

Ohgi scrunched his face in thought when he noticed that something was amiss with the video.

"Minami, would you rewind the video?"

The last minute before the Shinkiro's explosion was once again brought up on the large screen.

"Is that... the Shinkiro's ejection pod?"

Minami zoomed the video and there it was: the Shinkiro's ejection pod that held Zero.

"He must be captured by the enemies!" Someone said.

Another piped in. "Wait! Look at that!"

All of them saw the man wearing a green suit caught Zero's ejection pod before he disappeared from the footage leaving them surprised with the two supposedly indirect interaction. Some of them were even guessing that Zero might have known the two men but it dissipated when they saw the man wearing a blue suit and a red cape destroy a couple of knightmare frames with his bare hands, including that of Black Knights.

* * *

 **Avalon**

"Your Highness, we have prepared your shuttle for EVAC. It would depart in five minutes to rendezvous with His Majesty before en route to Pendragon. If you would please-"

"We would be heading to the Black Knights' Ikaruga." Schneizel said which made the young officer in front of him gape at him in shock.

"But, Your Highness, it would-" he tried to reason with Schneizel but once he saw the determination in his eyes, he reluctantly dropped his side of argument.

"Of course, Your Highness. I would inform the pilot about the change of course."

The young officer saluted before Schneizel to head to the hangar.

"Are you sure about your decision, Your Highness?"

Kanon asked the second prince regarding his decision about changing the shuttle's course. "What are planning to do in the Black Knights' territory?"

Schneizel turned to Kanon and smirked at him. His left hand was playing with the white king piece.

"I figured it is now time to tell the Black Knights about their leader's identity. Would you not say so?"

"Perhaps it is. However, their high ranking officers were out in the battlefield and busy fighting against our forces. If we relay our discovery about their leader without them, then it would not matter."

He gave Kanon a soft smile and replied, "We are pulling our forces, including the incoming Bismarck and his forces."

* * *

" _Xing-ke, Britannian forces are pulling out!"_ Tohdoh's voice bursted out of Xing-ke's onboard communication speaker.

"I know, Tohdoh!" He grunted as he tried to shot down a fighter plane but failed when his missile missed it.

The fighter planes-it was the ones that attack him and his troops back in Jianmenguan. The ones that almost crippled his pride when he saw the Japanese woman defending a Britannian just like what Kururugi Suzaku was doing when he became a Britannian soldier before becoming a knight.

Tohdoh does not know what was happening around him. He was focusing on the fighter planes that was looming above the battlefield and destroying every knightmare frame they come across-Britannian or Black Knights'. They were successful in killing almost one-fourth of knightmare frames in both sides with just their missiles and their location was helping them. Any knightmare frames who attempted to chase them on the higher altitude has spiralled down the earth because of engine failure.

In his determination to eliminate the unknown forces, he failed to noticed the arrival of the second unknown man who eliminated many forces along his way.

"What the…?" Tohdoh said when he saw the man destroying a knightmare frame using a laser that was shooting out of his eyes.

He sent three missiles on the man's way in hopes of destroying him but when it exploded on him and when the smoke has cleared up, he noticed him still alive and fighting.

Readying his Seidoutou, he advanced to the man and made slash to kill the man but to his shock, the Seidoutou broke upon contact on the man's body. The man grabbed the part unbroken part of the Seidoutou and snatched it out of the Zangetsu's mechanical hands before destroying it on his bare hands and throwing it away from him.

Tohdoh saw no chance of incapacitating the mysterious enemy and just ended up opening his outer communication speakers to interrogate him.

"Who are you?!"

The man stood, or rather floated, in front of him and stared at right at him as if his gaze could penetrate through the thick metal walls of his Zangetsu.

"I believe you are in no position to ask me of that, General Tohdoh."

Tohdoh gritted his teeth when the man mentioned. How he found out his name, he did not know.

"Trust me, whoever you are," Tohdoh slowly approached the man activated the self-destruct sequence of Zangetsu when he was near enough. "This would definitely kill you!"

Seconds before it destructs, Tohdoh launched the ejection pod of his cockpit and he spiralled down to the earth and away from his knightmare's explosion.

'That would surely kill you.'

Tohdoh thought as he collapsed into unconsciousness caused by fatigue and lack of good day's sleep.

* * *

Suzaku knew that the Lancelot's capabilities further would result to its engine failure or explosion. However, if he decided to withdraw and waste time away from the battle, then he would be so sure that he would not get the chance to kill Zero in the near future. His first chance in killing him was with the FLEIJA but with the unknown man's intervention, the FLEIJA never got to explode onto Zero.

There was a part of him that was thankful that the man intervened before the FLEIJA exploded. They were, after all, battling above the Tokyo Settlement where millions of people, Britannian and Japanese alike, were currently living. If the explosion was not halted, then millions would perish under the FLEIJA's explosion and destruction would surely strike the Tokyo Settlement.

" _Sir Kururugi, Prince Schneizel has ordered all forces to abandon their posts and retreat back to Headquarters."_ A young officer reported to Suzaku through his onboard communication link.

"What about the oncoming forces of Sir Bismarck?"

" _Prince Schneizel ordered the to retreat back as well."_

Suzaku gritted his teeth in anger. Another chance wasted.

"SITREP?"

The officer inhaled deeply and replied, " _Seventy-five percent damage on our military force, sixty-three percent damage on our weapons: both artillery and weaponry, and and seventy-three percent of our troops are killed in action and fifty-seven are missing in action including the Knight of Six Anya Alstreim and Knight of Ten Luciano Bradley."_

Suzaku blanched when he found out what to Anya and Luciano. The two were one of the best knightmare pilots in the Rounds and having them missing in action would definitely cripple Britannia. If their losses were not enough, then this news would surely bring Britannia to a temporary halt in the field of warfare.

"Do what you can to bring back Lady Alstreim and Sir Bradley! If you do not do what you have been asked, I would definitely hold you responsible. Understood?!"

The officer gulped in fear before stuttering out an affirmative.

" _Wi-Wilco, Sir Kururugi!"_

When the communication with the officer stopped, Suzaku, out of frustration and anger, slammed both of his fists down on the Lancelot's controls. The fucked up situation he was in was messing his head. Regardless of careful planning and execution, he still seemed to not get Zero in a corner and have his chance to kill him. There were circumstances that gets in his way every time he attempts to kill him that always resulted in him either failing to accomplish his task or Zero ending up getting away from his clutches.

Despite his anger, Suzaku managed to send out a command for all Britannian forces calmly although most knew that he was angry that their mission has failed.

"To all Britannian forces, Prince Schneizel has issued a complete retreat order. Please get back to the Headquarters for assessment and damage control."

He repeated his message for two more times before closing the open channel and reluctantly making the Lancelot retreat out of the battlefield. However, before he completely retreat, he saw the two men, the reason why his mission failed, floating in front of the partially destroyed Government Bureau.

They were watching grimly as they retreat out of the battlefield and despite their reluctant retreat, Suzaku knew that the two would not let their guard down until they were definitely sure that they truly did retreat. Suzaku does not know where their allegiance lies on, but he was definitely sure that would not hesitate to kill anyone if given a chance.

' _Who are these men? What do they want?'_ He thought.

Memories of what happened in Kururugi Shrine drifted to the front of his mind. The unbelievable way that Lelouch act towards the man named Joker, his display of unbelievable power… all of it looks similar to the way the man in the red has acted. Eyes that shoots laser, flight and strength that no human could accomplish-all of it were similar.

' _Is there a chance that they knew each other?'_

He knew that it held no matter. What matter now is about defeating the two and he absolutely has no idea on how to. After what he has witnessed earlier in battle, he knew that it would take infinite resources of weaponry to take down the two and he would not risk wasting Britannia's weapons in uncertainty.

Observing the enemy and carefully planning his next mission was all he could do… for now. The time would definitely come when he would get an upperhand to them.

Perhaps, he could get an alliance with the two? He knew it would be possible considering that the two never should an alliance to both opposing parties but there was a big chance that they were also against the two. The two did killed many on both sides, after all.

' _It would do us good if we could make them an ally.'_ He thought as he glanced to the two one last time before heading back to the Headquarters.

* * *

"They're finally retreating." Green Lantern said as he watched the Britannian forces retreat back to their Headquarters. "Any minute now the Black Knights would issue their own retreat order."

"Retreating, never surrendering." Superman muttered as he watched the Lancelot on the corner of his eyes. "The battle was still not finished as long as no one surrenders. Losing was not on their options."

"Lelouch lead them to war. I don't know if it's a good thing." Green Lantern muttered.

"It is. Sometimes people should learn on how to stand up against the higher ups. It's not everyday that someone has to save them. They don't have superheroes like us." Superman smiled at Green Lantern and patted his shoulder before flying back to the Command Base. Green Lantern was left to assess the damage the battle has inflicted amongst the people-both Britannian and Eleven, and the destruction it has caused to the Tokyo Settlement.

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

"Where are we going?"

Batman stayed quiet and continued to attach bombs on an empty room in Ikaruga. The orange haired girl who asked him huffed in frustration on his silent treatment.

"Oi, we're asking you questions!" The green haired girl, C.C., sent a punch on his way and he was quick to dodge it. C.C. stumbled and fell on her butt when she tried to regain her balance.

"You two should stay quiet!" He hissed in anger.

The two girls glared at him before sulking away from him.

" _Three Unknown Heat Signatures Approaching the Current Location. ETA, Three Minutes."_

"Hey, you two!" Batman hissed to the two girls that was outside the small room he was in. "Get in!"

"Why should we?" C.C. retorted back haughtily.

"Just get in or I'll make you!"

The two must've knew that he was not bluffing and quickly scrambled to get inside the small room despite their initial reluctance. He closed the door of the room just in time when the three unknown heat signatures rounded the corner where their room was located.

"I heard from someone that Princess Cornelia was here and was trying to escape when Diethard saw her." One said.

Batman gritted his teeth in anger when he found out that Cornelia managed to escape from the clutches of Lieutenant GQ Edwards. How she has managed to escape from him, he did not know.

There was someone who snorted before another spoke.

"Really, then we must've been lucky."

"Someone said that Prince Schneizel is here. We could kill two Britannian royalties in one day!"

There was laughter before another replied. "As if Zero would let you!"

"Anyway, have you seen the battle earlier? Man, the two mysterious men were powerful!"

"Must be new Britannian technology."

Their voices slowly faded as the got away from Batman's location but there gossip was enough intel for Batman. He knew that the Black Knights hasn't still found out about GQ and he knew it would be a matter of time before they do. He has to act quickly to locate him before the Black Knights beat him to it.

Batman turned to the two girls and stared at them for a minute before speaking.

"Stay here and don't go outside this room. I'll be back shortly."

He never gave them a chance to argue as he exited the room and locked it on the outside.

* * *

"What do you want from us, _Prince_ Schneizel?" Chiba sneered as she sat down on her seat beside her fellow Black Knight officers.

"I come to talk, Miss Nagisa Chiba." Schneizel calmly replied and gestured to his aide de camp for something. "In fact, I came in with a gift."

The aide de camp exited the room for a minute and came back with a very familiar person whom they thought had perished on the war that took place earlier.

"Asahina!"

Chiba and Tohdoh (who just woke up from the clutches of unconsciousness five minutes before Schneizel arrived) rushed towards their weak comrade and took him away from Schneizel's aide de camp. The rest of the Black Knights stayed on their seats as they watched the reunion of the three.

"What happened to you?"

Asahina attempted to reply but the overwhelming fatigue and pain overcame his senses as he collapsed on Chiba's arms.

In their haste to get Asahina away from Schneizel's grubby hands, they failed to noticed the wounds and bruises on Asahina's body. Most of his wounds were not fatal but was still enough to draw blood out of his body.

"What have you done?!" Tohdoh shouted towards the prince angrily.

Despite the animosity that was around them originating from every Black Knights present inside the room, Schneizel still hold his calm facade even though anticipation and irritation was coursing inside of him. He knew losing his temper in front of them would result in dire consequences and he knew it would greatly affect his current agenda. He could not afford the last and only chance to topple his little brother and break his hold on the Black Knights.

"Our foot soldiers found him inside the Government Bureau in that state. We have no knowledge on what has happened to him inside." His aide de camp replied.

"Kanon, is it?" Ohgi asked him to which he nodded in affirmative. "Tell us a reason why we should believe the words you just spouted out of your mouth."

"Most of our foot soldiers stationed in the Government Bureau were either dead or tortured by unknown assailants who stormed inside the building whilst the battle was happening. They were the ones who kidnapped Viceroy Nunnally."

Surprise etched on their faces when they found out that someone beat them from seizing the Viceroy. They knew that Zero has sent someone to capture the crippled princess and was hoping that they were the ones who got her.

"The most disturbing part was the torture," Kanon continued. "Some assailants tortured several of our soldiers to get intel from them to use against us. They all killed them after they got what they want and fortunately for us, two soldiers has managed to evade them."

Schneizel dropped a manila folder on the table and Tohdoh quickly snatched it and opened it.

"I know this man…"

Events of what happened in Jianmenguan once again permeated to Tohdoh's mind. Amongst the soldiers that attacked them, one man stood out and he was definitely the one on the picture he was holding.

"You know him." Schneizel said rather than questioned. It was as if he knew that Tohdoh knew the person who lead covert operation to kidnap Nunnally.

"He attacked us in Jianmenguan and killed our forces except me and Tohdoh." Xing-ke intervened.

"Do you know who they are?" Chiba sharply asked. Her hostility towards the Britannian royalty has not escaped Schneizel's keen eyes. She has right, in his opinion, to hate every Britannian for they were the ones who took their nation away from them.

"Unfortunately, no," Schneizel said grimly, "however, we are doing everything we can to figure their identities, including the two men who entered the battlefield earlier."

"We guessed that the group who kidnapped Viceroy Nunnally and the two men were somehow connected. They might knew each other and has a possibility that they have allegiances with each other."

"Could we just get down to the business already?!" Tamaki shouted in irritation and impatience.

"Why are you here, you Britannian assholes?!"

Every Black Knight in the room sent a glare on Tamaki's way but he never minded it. He just wanted to find out the reason why some Britannians were on their flagship and talking to them as if they were allies despite the heated conversation that took place earlier.

"I have some information regarding to your leader and I am so sure you would not find it to your liking." Schneizel stated calmly despite Tamaki's rudeness.

"Yeah, yeah whatever you say. I would say it know that whatever you are accusing my buddy of, I knew he would do it!"

"Just shut up, Tamaki!" Tohdoh shouted in irritation. When he was sure that Tamaki has shut up, he turned to the prince and gestured for him to continue.

Schneizel gave small, winning smile before starting to relay his findings on their supposedly 'miraculous' leader.

Despite the feeling of satisfaction on what he would be doing, Schneizel does not shrugged off the feeling that something, or _someone,_ was eavesdropping on them. He knew he has do something about it but he also knew that he was only feeling paranoia. He decided to shrug off the notion and went on his mission, never noticing dark knight looming above them and eavesdropping on them the entire meeting.

* * *

 **Command Center**

"Look who's here!"

Flash exclaimed when he saw Lelouch exiting the ejection pod he was riding in. Despite the mask he saw wearing, no person could not decipher the amount of happiness the superhero was feeling when he saw his long time friend and ally.

"Glad to see you again, Barry."

The two shared a manly hug before walking away from the helipad.

"Where's Nunnally?" Lelouch asked as soon as they were in safe distance away from the noise coming from the helicopter. "Is she okay?"

"Thought you'd ask me of that," Barry muttered sheepishly. "She's okay, Lelouch. She's sleeping in one of the quarters here and before you ask, yes, there were guards in front of her room."

"Good, good." Lelouch nodded in satisfaction. "Where's my father?"

"Still in Ikaruga." Flash simply said. He was about to continue speaking when Wonder Woman suddenly joined the conversation.

"Nice to see you all grown up, Lelouch." The woman enveloped Lelouch in a motherly hug which he readily reciprocated.

"Thanks, Diana."

"Anyway, the others are waiting for you inside. We should come in."

Diana dragged Lelouch inside the building and to the lounge room where the others were currently waiting for his arrival.

Once they arrived in front of the lounge room, it has not escaped Diana's eyes the huge take of breath Lelouch has take and she knew the young boy was feeling anxious to meet his fellow comrades and friends once again. Sure, it would bring him happiness to once again be reunited with his friends but she was not sure how he would take the news of his half-sister's survival and her current occupation. She knew giving him a heads up would definitely help him to accept things that involved Euphemia but she knew it was not her position to decide things for the entire League. She should've asked about their opinion before he was scheduled to arrive in the base.

"You ready?"

Lelouch nodded his head in affirmative and proceeded to enter the lounge room where he saw his friends waiting for him with big smiles on their faces.

He anticipated their smiles, their big hugs and their pat of recognition but he definitely did not expected his half-sister, Euphemia, waiting for him with a big smile on her face and looking very alive.

"Hello, Lelouch."

Her pink haired younger sister gave him a big hug which shocked hell out of him.

"Eu-Euphie?"

He looked around the room and instantly noticed their nervous faces. They were waiting for him to respond to Euphie's hugs and greetings.

"What… what's happening?" Lelouch asked, confusion and shocked was running its course on his system. "Euphie… why are you…?"

He did not managed to finish his sentence because of the blackness that overwhelmed his mind as he succumb to unconsciousness, a regularity ever since his powers has been unlocked and has been eating away his energy.

* * *

A/N: Sorry for the late update, guys. I've been plagued by writer's block and has to do several writings for the start of the chapter.

Anyway, next would be up on or before May 1 as a compensation for the long wait you guys have suffered for this update.

Cheers :)

P.S: Have you guys seen the new Teen Titans movie and the new trailer for the Justice League? What are your thoughts about it?


	15. Turn 14: The Expected Betrayal

ARC II, TURN 14: The Expected Betrayal

* * *

 **Command Center**

 **8:35**

Loud noises coming from inside and outside the room Lelouch was currently in woke him out of his unconsciousness. He cringed in pain when he opened his sensitive eyes and witnessed the blinding light that embraces his room.

"Hey, Lelouch. You 'kay, man?" Barry asked from his seat beside his bed he was lying on.

Lelouch did not immediately responded when Barry asked the question. Instead, he took his time to let his brain comprehend those around him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He murmured before grunting as he hoisted his body up and away from the safety confines of his bed.

"Where are the others?"

Barry shrugged in reply as he watched Lelouch move around with concern etched to his face.

"You sure you okay, man? Looks like you're still weak from fatigue."

"Nah," Lelouch shook his head, "I'm okay and besides, I still have to see Nunnally."

Barry rushed to his side and assisted him in standing. "Then, let me take you to her."

* * *

When they arrived in front of Nunnally's room, Lelouch took his time to dispatch the soldiers tasked in guarding her. The impending reunion that would take place in matter of minutes made Lelouch nervous and scared to what she would say and feel after all what the stunt he has pulled. She might not still know that he was Zero but he knew that she was angry at him after he abandoned her during the Black Rebellion and the guilt was eating his feelings.

"I'll let you go inside." Barry opened the door and ushered him inside the dark confines of Nunnally's room, having decided to let him alone with his younger sister to talk about things.

When he entered, Lelouch saw the familiar figure of his sister, lying on a comfy bed on the corner of the small room. The soft snores coming from her suggests that she was in the middle of a deep sleep and it might take several more hours before she could wake up. He would like to stay and wait for her to wake up but he knew he would need to leave to return to the Ikaruga to take care of things but he knew it would not hurt to spend some time with his beloved sister.

Lelouch took the liberty to sit on the seat beside her bed and guard her from anything that might harm her while she was asleep despite the fact that there were several superhumans and thousands of soldiers in their vicinity. It would not hurt to spend thirty minutes or a maximum of hour to guard her sister before leaving her once again to take care of things he knew would be for her sake.

* * *

"Welcome to our base and command center." Flag announced as soon as they entered the large hangar that contains numerous fighting crafts and weaponries and hundreds of men busy working on something. His announcement fell on Kallen's deaf ears as she gaped at the objects in front of her. Beside her was Anya Alstreim (who was busy taking pictures) and Luciano Bradley (who was brought by a man named Captain Boomerang earlier, saying that he found him near the Government Bureau).

' _So, this was Lelouch's allies' base.'_ Kallen thought. She was glad that their newfound ally has weans and resources to rally beside them.

In her obvious appreciation, it did not even occurred to her that they might be the ones who attacked Tohdoh and her other comrades hours before the battle took place.

"Tch," Luciano sneered as he continued to stare at the weaponries in distaste, "outdated as fuck. How will they stand against my Percival?"

Flag turned to him and glared right back, which made Luciano falter a bit.

"As far as I was concerned, your Percival exploded earlier on the battle and those," he jerked a thumb behind his back to point at the 'outdated' weaponries, "survived and managed to take down greater than you did on the battle."

Luciano was about to retort when Harley Quinn entered the hangar. She was dragging her trademark weapon, a mallet, behind her back and her baseball bat placed on her left shoulder.

"Hello, Ricky!" She screech which made Kallen and the others (with the exception of Flag, having been immuned to her quirkiness and all) cringed in pain.

Flag ignored Harley and turned to the group in front of him. "This is Dr. Harleen Quinzel aka Harley Quinn. She was the psychopath who piloted the Guren."

Angered that she once again saw the woman who piloted her Guren without her permission, Kallen stomped towards the smiling woman and proceeded to throw a punch on her face which Harley easily dodged. "You, knightmare frame stealer!"

Kallen was about to roundhouse kick Harley when the latter struck her large mallet on the former's stomach. The impact of the mallet on Kallen's abdomen was enough to send her flying and colliding on a military jeep. The soldiers around her scrambled away from her as Harley approached her and started to beat her with her bat.

"That's enough, Harley!" Flag intervened when he saw that Kallen was slowly starting to bleed profusely.

Harley stopped and whined at Flag, "But I just got started! Don't ruin my fun, Ricky!"

"Yeah, let her have her fun." Luciano jeered. His encouragement made Harley shout in affirmation.

Anya remained quiet on her position and occasionally drops a word under her breath that sounds like 'idiots' and 'waste of time'.

"Continue that and I'll fucking blow up your neck and I don't fucking care if Lelouch will get angry!" Flag screamed; his face was red in anger.

Harley pouted and meekly said, "Party pooper", before scrambling away from the group and leaving Kallen bleeding on the floor.

"You okay?" Flag extended his hand to help Kallen on her feet but the latter ignored his help and hoisted herself from the floor.

"Yeah," she said before exploding into loud coughs. Blood started to drip from her mouth onto her chin as she tried to suppress her cough.

"What's happening here, Colonel Flag?"

A woman, drenched with an aura of authority and pride around her, entered the scene.

"Why is this woman bleeding?" She approached Kallen, who was gaping at her, and inspected the bruises and wounds on her face.

"Just a little trouble with Harley." Flag replied. He never went into trouble telling her about Kallen's earlier behavior.

"Hey, pretty woman!" Luciano leered which caught all of their attention. The soldiers that was working around them stopped to watched the exchange between the group. Some of them, the ones closer to the group, backed away in fear of getting caught up in the tension that was rising.

"That costume is good on you! Come here and I'll sho-UGH!"

Before he could finish his sentence, Luciano grunted in pain when the woman wrapped her lasso around his neck, effectively blocking the oxygen from entering his lungs. His face slowly turned to violet as he tried to take off the lasso from his neck.

"Y-you… ACK!" He tried to speak but ended up sputtering words gibberish to human ears.

"You need to learn your lesson on good conduct, man." She sternly said before losing the grip of her lasso on Luciano's neck. Luciano, on the other hand, took big breaths of air to stabilized his breathing and calm himself from harming the woman who almost took his life and humiliate him in front of many people.

Cheers and laughters erupted from the men around them as they mocked the fallen Knight of Ten and praise the woman who sent him on his knees.

"Teach him more lessons on good conduct, Wonder Woman!"

"Knight of Ten my ass! Wonder Woman's able to beat you!"

"Ha! Good for you!"

Kallen admired the fact that she was able to defend herself from Luciano's lecherous behavior and punished him for it. The name the men shouts around them, Wonder Woman, suits her because of what she did and the mystical and authoritative aura she emits. She could be considered the female equivalent of Zero given her characteristics (of course, with the exception in the field of physical prowess).

Wonder Woman turned to Flag and to the rest of the group.

"Come with me and I'll show you where you'll be temporarily staying."

Kallen objected, "But I still need to return to our base."

Wonder Woman looked at Kallen and saw the abject desperation in her eyes. She was hesitant if she would send her back to Ikaruga since she was technically an enemy but she knew keeping an act was far more important. Giving false hope of allegiance to their enemies was their utmost priority and it would be carried out if she would send Kallen back to her comrades.

She sighed deeply in knowing that she would have to let go of an enemy.

"Flash would accompany you to your journey, Miss Stadtfeld."

Kallen looked at her in confusion and suspicion. She did not remembered giving her name to the woman much less her giving her Britannian name.

How on earth did she ever found out her Britannian name?

"The rest of you," she beckoned, "come with me."

She gave a nod to the newly-arrived Flash and proceeded to the exit of the hangar with Flag's group trailing behind her.

"Do you want me check out your wounds first or go now?" Flash asked her.

She almost forgot the wounds she received from Harley's beatings and being reminded by it made her winced from pain. Although she very much needed to take care of her wounded self first, going back was still her priority and she knew it.

"But what about my Guren?" She asked the scarlet speedster.

Flash pointed to the far corner of the hangar where the Guren was being repaired by several military technicians and engineers. "We'll deliver it to you when they've finished repairing it."

Rakshata's complaints about Lloyd Asplund getting his hands on the Guren entered her mind. If she found that some people tinkered her Guren, then Kallen would be the receiving end of her overreacted anger and frustration and she would not like it.

"Ah, you don't have to repair the Guren. We have our own scientists and-"

"We insist, Miss Kallen." Flash objected. "Harley broke several parts of the machine and it was our responsibility to repair it since she was our comrade."

"N-no, our scientists could…" She tried to object although she knew it would be a lost cause.

"Ah, damn it!" She cursed under her breath which did not escaped Flash's ears. "Do what you want on the knightmare!"

' _To heck with Rakshata! She'll thank me later for this.'_ She thought.

"Okay!" Flash beamed.

Before Kallen could speak, the scarlet speedster quickly put her on his back and raced away from their location to head towards the place where the Ikaruga was currently located-floating above the sea.

"How are we going to go up?!" Kallen asked, or rather, shouted. The strong gusts of wind due to the speed they were going has muffled her voice.

"Just watch and learn!"

Flash zoomed towards the large cargo ship and proceeded to make a large jump to reach the Ikaruga's surface. They almost never reached it but fortunately, Flash managed to grab at the edge of Ikaruga's platform.

"Hey!" Flash grunted. "Climb up before I slip!"

Kallen made a mistake of looking down at the sea. She gulped in nervousness as she imagined herself falling down and dying.

"Don't look down, young lady!" Flash noticed her nervousness.

Kallen snapped out of her stupor and slowly climbed up to the platform whilst using Flash's body as a leverage to climb.

"Faster!" He admonished, feeling his fingers starting to slip its hold unto the platform.

Kallen quickly grabbed the platform's edge and hoisted body up, ensuring her safety from falling but Flash's. When she was surely safe, she grabbed Flash's slipping hand and helped him to climb the platform, saving him from falling down the sea.

"Thanks!" He grunted as he flex the arm he used in grabbing the platform to ease the tension on his muscle.

"No problem," Kallen panted.

* * *

"Lelouch?" He heard Superman's muffled voice on the other side of the door. "You need to go back. Batman informed that Schneizel's on the Ikaruga and having a meeting with the Black Knights."

Lelouch knew he should be surprised but he already predicted their betrayal. With his brother's cunning and devious mind, Chiba and Asahina's doubts on his motives and leadership, and Ohgi's incompetence and pitiful naiveté, he expected the betrayal would come sooner rather than later.

Despite the fact that he should feel remorse because of their impending betrayal, he knew he should not be sore loser about it. It has happened time and time again with Harley. Despite being one of his skillful 'agents', she always has to betray him whenever Joker was in the vicinity and he was not angry nor sad about it. In fact, he understand her obsessive penchant towards the clown and it would continue until the time comes when she would learn how to say no to him.

"Flash also accompanied Miss Stadtfeld back to Ikaruga as per Wonder Woman's orders."

Lelouch sighed heavily; his time with his unconscious sister was up. He need to go back and finish what he has started.

With one last parting glance on her sleeping sister, he slipped out of her room and joined Superman outside.

"It's been a long time." Superman engulfed him into a hug which he reciprocated back. "Good to see that you've been faring well."

Lelouch sheepishly smiled and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment.

"Well, not well per se. Stress always seem to find a way to catch up with me whatever I do."

Superman chuckled at what he said. "We all suffer in stress, Lelouch. Good thing you know how to cope up with it and not let it bother you."

They all started to walk away from Nunnally's room to head to the meeting room where Green Arrow would relay some updates to them before they head out.

"I assume you saw Euphie?"

Lelouch never bothered to answer his question and asked his own question instead.

"How?"

Superman looked at him in utter confusion. "How, what?"

"How did you managed to revive her? She's dead and that's because of me."

"Don't divulge yourself into stressful things, Lelouch. You are not the only one at fault, you know."

Lelouch never responded. He was still awaiting Superman's reply to his question.

"You know about Lazarus Pit, right?"

He nodded in affirmation but did not offered any verbal response.

"After we managed to get her corpse, we have decided that it is best if we give her a shot to live once again. She… and Clovis."

"Clovis is alive?!" Lelouch sputtered in shock and surprise.

Superman nodded and continued, "They managed to get the side effects after they emerged. You know? The usual temporary insanity and additional strength? Thankfully, though, they committed no casualties during their critical time."

"They deserve to live their life, you know. They've been restrained by their position and has never been given a chance to live their own life in their own way. They've been predetermined-just like you… and me."

"Well, they loved it." Lelouch retorted. "With the exception of Euphemia, of course."

Their talk ceased when they reached the meeting room. As was expected, Green Arrow was there waiting for them.

"Nice of you two to finally join me here!" Green Arrow exclaimed.

He gave Lelouch a nod before starting with his update report.

"Okay, lads," he started. "As the two of you know, Batman wouldn't be here now 'cuz he's currently spying on the Black Knights and Schneizel's not so secret meeting and we'll have to relay some news to him later."

"Now, news came from Deadshot and they said that they managed to extract Milly just in time before the purple shit was deployed. According to them, several Britannian troops was making their rounds so they're going to arrive one hour later that the original schedule."

"Wait," Lelouch interrupted, "I thought Flash has evacuated all people away from the Tokyo Settlement? How come he skipped Milly?"

Green Arrow shrugged and said, "Deadshot said that he'll be the one to handle Milly."

He picked the manila folder in front of him and pushed it towards Lelouch and Superman.

"Ever since Joker and his gang of insane people arrived here, the US military kept track of the obituaries and morgues all over Japan for suspicious deaths. That manila folder," he pointed at the folder that was currently on Superman's hands, "contains all information about Joker's victims since he arrived here. We managed to obtain it from Britannian database after our fellas from US military has successfully hacked their way inside."

"What about our mole in the Black Knights?" Superman spoke. "Any news from her?"

"Katana reported that several Black Knights higher ups were worried about Ohgi's behavior. She said that they were saying something about him planning a coup against Lelouch because of someone named Villetta who said that Lelouch was a false leader… or some shit like that."

"What do you think, Lelouch? What should be our next move?"

Lelouch tapped his fingers on the table as he thought of every possible move they could do and their consequences. He deduced that if they wait the enemy's next move, then there would be a possibility that someone would get ahold of Joker and an alliance between them would take place despite the latter's reluctance of making allegiance to someone.

If they first made the move, then he would be pretty sure that Schneizel would managed to get some information on them based on how they operate. Observing the enemy's style of techniques, skills and tactics was one of his forte and he always win if he used that method.

"So, what?" Green Arrow's voice managed to get Lelouch out of his tactical thinking and back into reality.

Lelouch sighed and stood from his seat, Superman following his move.

"Let the US military and Task Force X locate Joker and his goons for now. I'm assigning you, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter to accompany them in their mission and report immediately to me, Superman or Batman whenever you saw something out of ordinary or if you managed to locate Joker. Flash would stay here along with Kilowog, John and the rest, to ensure Nunnally and rest's safety."

"Me, Superman and Batman would handle the Black Knights and Schneizel. We'll first eliminate them before going to the emperor's head."

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

"You mean… all those miracles was just because he has the power to manipulate?" Minami asked weakly despite the shock and anger hiding beneath his weak mask.

Schneizel nodded sadly but he was overwhelming with happiness on the inside because he managed to get an upperhand against Lelouch.

"No! Zero won't do that to us! He's our leader!" The redhead, Tamaki, yelled in denial despite the evidences he presented in front of them. The indignation was clearly written on his face as he continued to shout at the calm prince of Britannia.

"They have given evidences, Tamaki. Ohgi and that Villetta," Chiba said and pointed to the latter, "even says so!"

"No! I won't believe any of you!" Tamaki yelled one last time before storming out of the meeting room in anger.

Seconds after Tamaki's exit, Diethard entered the meeting room with Cornelia in tow.

"Whilst all of you were meeting behind my back, I found this precious cargo lurking inside our territory."

He pushed Cornelia hard making her fall on the floor. Kanon immediately went to help her.

"How did she managed to get here?!" Chiba exclaimed. She turned to Schneizel and angrily shouted at him. "You tricked us?!"

"I did not knew she was here." He said calmly. "Why would you not tell us why you are here, sister?"

Cornelia did not hesitated to answer Schneizel's question and proceeded to give everything that happened to her whilst still in Lelouch's hands.

"Lelouch and Jeremiah Gottwald were the ones who brought me here inside. They caught me when they killed hundreds of members of Geass Order in Chinese Federation."

Regardless of the fact that the Black Knights knew about Lelouch's murdering rampage in Chinese Federation, still hearing it from a witness gave them chills which was explicitly visible on their current behavior.

Cornelia noticed the manila folder lying open on the table, displaying GQ's face on the front and little information alongside his picture. She took the folder and presented it to the Black Knights.

"This man was the one who guarded me whilst I was here."

Tohdoh frowned at her. "That man was the one who coordinated an attack against us the other day. You meant to say he was working under Lelouch?"

"Yes," Cornelia confirmed, "He was with a man named Flag and I think he was Lelouch second in command."

"They injected me with what they called nanites." She prodded the area on her neck where they injected the nanite. "They said they can locate me through nanite and if I managed to escaped, which I did, they will blow my head off."

"What do you want to do?" Chiba sneered.

Cornelia suppressed the urge to scoff in annoyance. If only she do not need their help to get the pesky nanite off of her.

"Get it off of me."

"We would get it off of you, Cornelia. Do not worry yourself about it." Schneizel replied. "For now, we have to attend to-"

He was cut off when two Black Knights unexpectedly entered the meeting room without permission, dragging an almost lifeless body of what they presumed as GQ.

They were not surprised to see GQ's lifeless body because they knew that the Goddess of Victory would not go down without a fight.

"We found this man in one of the rooms in the west wing." They both dropped GQ's body on the floor without any regards about his condition.

"What are we going to do to him?"

Schneizel looked at the rest of the Black knights before looking at the body on the floor. He knew of a way to use him against Lelouch, or possibly control him.

"Tell Lelouch to meet us in the hangar… and take him with us."

* * *

"How dare they? Betraying Zero after all the things he did for us and for Japan?!"

Tamaki gulped the beer on his hand before slamming it down onto the table with tremendous force that the base of the beer cracked a little.

"Ungrateful bastards!" Another big gulp. "They don't deserve to be called a Black Knight!"

"Nor they deserved to be treated as a Black Knight." Someone said.

Tamaki scrambled on his feet and whipped a gun out to point around him. Chills ran down his body as he continued to search for the owner of the creepy modulated voice.

"Who's there?!" He shouted bravely despite the fact that his knees were buckling in undeniable fear.

"This is not a horror movie for you to shout and tremble at the same time while pointing a gun to some unknown creature."

"I am not afraid of you! Show yourself!" His voice cracked at the word 'afraid'.

"If I were you, I'd drop the gun, Shinichiro Tamaki." He said before emerging from the dark corner of the room they were currently in.

Tamaki fought the urge to laugh at the man's costume. Dressed as bat? With matching cape? Who would not laugh?

Though, there was a voice on the corner of his mind that tells him that he should fear the man in front of him and look past his laughable costume.

' _That is maybe because he big… or maybe it is because he's fat?'_ He thought. ' _Nah, I could definitely take this guy, fat or not!'_

"Who are you?"

The man never answered. He just continued to stare at Tamaki.

"I said who-"

"I believe you've seen the battle earlier. Am I right?" He abruptly said.

Tamaki never said anything. He just nodded his head in utter confusion as to where their talk would lead.

"Then you definitely saw Superman and Green Lantern earlier. Am I right?"

Tamaki released a snort when he said the ridiculous names. "I don't know who you're talking to. You're just wasting my-"

"The two men who entered the battle."

Tamaki stopped at what he said. The two men, who displayed powerful abilities beyond human capabilities, managed to destroy almost an entire fleet of Black Knights and Britannia. How wonderful would it be if they managed to get them on their side?

Britannia would be doomed by the combination of Zero's leadership skills and two men's powerful combat skills!  
"What about them, huh?!"

The man smirked and said, "They're my friends."

* * *

"I'm going to search for Batman. Do what you have to do, Lelouch."

They landed gracefully on Ikaruga's platform and immediately went into hiding when two uniformed Black Knights entered.

"Whys he talking to Tamaki? Of all people?" Lelouch scoffed in displeasure.

Superman retorted, "Perhaps, it's because he's currently the only loyal person amongst the Black Knights."

Lelouch used his X-ray vision and saw that the Black Knights has already gathered in the hangar with GQ's unconscious body propped near Schneizel's feet. He also saw Suzaku, who just arrived at the hangar with Lloyd Asplund in tow.

They were waiting for him to arrive.

Lelouch and Superman both heard Flash before they saw him.

"Kallen's entering the hangar." He reported.

They watched as Kallen entered the hangar, full of bruises and wounds on her skin courtesy of Harley's combat skills and extensive knowledge of torturing techniques using only a bat and a mallet.

"Oh, good Kami! Kallen!" They watched Ohgi pale when he saw her bruises and wounds. "What happened to you?!"

Kallen quickly answered, "N-nothing, Ohgi-san! I'm fine!"

Ohgi was about to object when Tohdoh decided to intervene.

"Ohgi, if she said she is fine, then she is fine!" He turned to Kallen and said, "Go get Zero for us, will you?"

Kallen nodded in affirmation and immediately exited the hangar in search of Zero.

"It's time. Go, now!"

Lelouch zoomed away from Superman and Flash as he raced against Kallen in getting to his office first. He just arrived in his office when Kallen rounded the corner where his office was.

"Batman's with Tamaki in a room in northern part of Ikaruga. Get him, now." Lelouch muttered under his breath. Despite the lowness of his voice, he knew that Superman heard what he just said.

A knock on his door indicated that Kallen has finally arrived at the front of his office.

"Zero?" She said he she did not heard a response.

Lelouch counted to ten before allowing himself to reply. "What is it, Kallen?"

There was shuffling outside before he heard a clear response.

"Ohgi and the others are in the hangar. They were waiting for you."

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

Deathstroke reluctantly approached the heavy metal doors of Joker's room, otherwise known as 'Forbidden Room' amongst their small team of supervillains. Despite arriving to their current location mere hours ago, Joker has already established his own territory and banned them from entering unless he says so, thus, earning the name 'Forbidden Room'.

However, that didn't stop Deathstroke from (reluctantly) storming inside the room to report about what he witnessed on the battle in Tokyo Settlement hours ago.

"Who interrupts the all-mighty Joker?!" Deathstroke did not flinched when he heard Joker's voice boomed in anger and irritation.

"Me, all-mighty Joker." Deathstroke sarcastically said, not even worried about Joker's anger.

He took a look at what Joker was doing. Chunks of metal and powder suggests that Joker was doing some bomb and by the looks of it, the blast it would make would be three times destructive than a typical bomb could make.

"So," the Joker drawled as he turned to finish his work, "what happened to the battle of the century?"

"Didn't you watched in the television or surfed the internet?"

Joker replied, "You know I don't have time for trivial things, Deathstroke. I still need to finish this bomb or else, we won't have anything to use." He grinned as he presented the nearly-finished bomb to Deathstroke.

"Whatever you say," Deathstroke surrendered knowing that he won't win an argument against Joker.

"They're here and they made their move. It's up to us when we'll do ours." He seriously said to Joker to get all of his attention but he it was unsuccessful as Joker continued to grin, showing his explicit excitement.

"All of these tension in the air were stressing me out." Joker exclaimed. "Why don't we go to mall and have a spree to relieve all of our stress, hm?"

He wanted to punch the Joker for suggesting it but convinced himself that it would not do him any good if he harms their self-proclaimed leader.

"Of all the things we could do, Joker, but you suggested that we go to a mall for a shopping spree?!" Even though he managed to convinced himself to refrain from killing the Clown Prince of Crime, he never managed to stop himself from bursting in anger at Joker's suggestion. The absurdity of the idea rendered him of the ability to think straight as he considered killing him.

In spite of Deathstroke's outburst, Joker continued to grin wildly as he stared at him with bloodlust visible on his eyes.

"I didn't said that we're going on a shopping spree, did I?"

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

When they have arrived at the hangar bay of the Ikaruga, Lelouch quickly took noticed of the tensed atmosphere surrounding the area. Even Kallen seemed to take notice of it.

"Why are the lights off?"

Even though it was dark around them, Lelouch can still see his ex-comrades at the catwalk, aiming a gun at him.

"Ohgi-san? Tohdoh-san?"

Without no warning or so (for Kallen), the lights suddenly opened and the images of the core members of Black Knights aiming their guns at Zero assaulted their eyes.

"Ohgi-san, what's the meaning of this?!" Kallen exclaimed in shock.

Ohgi grimly said, "Move away from the traitor, Kallen."

"What?" She said weakly as she continued to stare at them helplessly.

Chiba chose to answer Kallen's question.

"If I were you, Kallen-san, I'd move away from that lying, son of a bitch!"

"Why don't you remove that mask of yours, Lelouch vi Britannia?" Tohdoh calmly said (despite the anger that was boiling inside him) which caught Kallen in state of shock.

"H-how did you…?"

"You knew, Kallen?!" Ohgi shouted. "You knew but you never told us?!"

"Didn't you know about the atrocities he committed? The crimes he did? All the people he killed while parading with the name 'Man of Miracles' plastered all around him?!" Chiba angrily retorted at the shocked woman. "He used us, Kallen. All for his sick games and twisted personal desires!"

"But he helped us in fighting for Japan's independence from Britannia!" Kallen made a move to shield Zero from her comrades verbal assault.

"All of it were propagandas, Kallen. All of it were lies and nothing but lies!" Minami was the one who shouted.

"Move alongside, Kallen Kozuki," Diethard said, a camera propped on his shoulder. "If you don't want to die."

Lelouch, having had enough of the incessant 'chattings' around him, took the liberty to take of his mask and finally reveal himself to the Black Knights.

"I'm impressed with your talent to manipulate people, Schneizel," Lelouch stated. "You easily managed to get them on your side."

Schneizel chose the moment to get out of the dark he currently resides to watch the happenings in front of him despite the initial reluctance and confusion as to why Lelouch knew he was there.

"The one who bends the people of their own will is the one who talked." He narrowed his eyes into slits and gave a signal to Kanon to bring GQ's body forward.

"I never knew you had another people working for you."

Kanon dropped the body on the catwalks platform roughly.

"Tell me, do you use geass on them too?"

"So, let me guess," Lelouch started, "you forfeited me to Schneizel in exchange of Japan's freedom. Am I right?"

"We have the right to, Lelouch," Chiba spat his name like it was some dirt on her mouth, "you've killed many people already and you are the reason why many of our comrades died!"

"And you've orchestrated an attack against us!" Tohdoh exclaimed whilst pointing a finger to GQ's unconscious body.

"If I were you, General Tohdoh, I would never prolong this talk anymore." Cornelia ended her silence with her grim words. "You would just give him a chance to get away like he always do."

"Very well," Tohdoh nodded in explicit approval.

All of the Black Knights simultaneously raised their guns and pointed it to Lelouch. Kallen reluctantly sidestepped and abandoned her previous position. She knew she could not anything to stop the madness that Schneizel orchestrated using her comrades.

"We would not let your victories go wasted, Zero." Ohgi said his last words to Lelouch.

Suzaku, who chose to be silent through the whole ordeal, spoke his own last words to the man he once considered as his best friend.

"I would still honor the friendship we once had, Lelouch."  
When he finished, Suzaku motioned for Tohdoh to continue. Without anymore delays, Tohdoh shouted, "Fire!"

However, something unexpected happened.

Their fingers were squeezing the trigger of the guns they were holding when suddenly, out of nowhere, a gust of wind and a red lightning streak appeared out of nowhere and took all of their guns.

"That redstreak!" Kallen exclaimed in explicit hope and happiness. "Flash!"

"Flash, what?!' Chiba said back, still wondering where the guns went.

"Yo, guys!"

They saw Flash leaning on a beam with guns around his feet and Diethard's camera on his hands.

"Who are-" Tohdoh was cut off when the small part of the ceiling of the hangar crashed on the floor with Superman kneeling in front of them.

"You!" Schneizel and Tohdoh simultaneously stated in shock when they saw who landed in front of them.

"I've killed you!"

Superman gave a smirk and replied, "I wouldn't be called Superman if I easily die."

* * *

A/N: I gave you the turn 14, as promised! Though, it's only minutes before May 1 passes but I still managed to get this done for you guys! The next chapter was already in works and it would be posted on May 10. I'd originally post it on 7 but since we're going out (and I need much needed break after the pain on my teeth subsides), I decided to push it back in a much later date.

Anyways, what are your thoughts about this chapter? Just leave your thoughts in a review!

Cheers! :)


	16. Turn 15: The Omotesando Incident

ARC II, TURN 15: The Omotesando Incident

* * *

 **Omotesando Mall**

 **9:05**

Despite the battle that happened above them earlier, a large number of Britannians spent their time lounging and shopping in the largest shopping district in Tokyo Settlement. They have left behind their fears caused by the battle in the back of their mind in prefer of the luxurious amenities offered by the shopping district.

However, none of them were aware of the imminent danger that was about to happen to them.

"Both Britannian and Black Knights are still reeling from the war's aftermath which made this a perfect time to attack." Bane said as he observed the busy people from his position on the rooftop deck of the mall. "But what're we doing to the Justice League, Señor Joker?"

"Hmm?" Joker hummed and tapped his chin in thought.

Deathstroke, annoyed by Joker's ignorance and arrogance, grunted in anger. "You haven't thought about it, did you?"

Joker rubbed the back of his neck and shrugged his shoulders; the gesture was enough of an answer to Deathstroke.

"We'll just fight them, Deathstroke," Reverse Flash commented airily. He was confident that they stand a chance in beating the Justice League since he knew that they are preoccupied with the brat named Lelouch.

" _Joker,"_ They all heard Clayface's voice from their handheld communicators.

Clayface was tasked to install the bombs all-over the shopping district's place to strengthen and widen the explosion and create panic among the Britannians. It would be their first step to instil chaos on the world they were current in.

"Good! Get out of there now and prepare to detonate the bombs." Joker grinned wildly; the upcoming chaos caused by him was giving him euphoria.

" _Detonating in three… two... One!"_

Joker watched in glee as simultaneous explosions happened inside the shopping district that caused people to panic and run for their lives. Both wounded and not wounded people scrambled to get out of the area and never paid any attention on the dead bodies that was littered on the floor.

"Now this," Joker proclaimed loudly, "is how you create chaos!"

He proceeded to laugh loudly as the people below him continued to shout in pure terror and panic.

* * *

 **Ikaruga**

"You think I'm dumb not to know about your betrayal?" Lelouch smugly pointed out as he basked in the Black Knights' surprise over his alliance with Superman and Flash. "I think you forgot who I am, Black Kn-"

He stopped when he heard loud explosions and screams coming from far away. It seems Superman has also heard it because he tilted his head to the direction where it originated.

"What was that?" He asked Superman as they both continued to listen to the horrifying screams.

Superman narrowed his eyes into slits when he heard the familiar laugh of the Clown Prince of Crime.

"It seems it's Joker behind the explosions."

"Explosions?" Suzaku asked. "We don't hear any explosions. What are you talking about?"

"Are you two crazy? There's no explosions!" Chiba haughtily pointed out but the two never gave her any attention.

Lelouch shifted his attention back to the Black Knights and growled. There was still problem in front of him that he needed to solve and Joker's latest activity would put a temporary end on his quest to destroy the Britannia and the Black Knights. He knew that he has to act quickly and put a stop on Joker's activities before he could kill millions of Britannians, which he would definitely do given his erratic and insane character.

"This is not finished!" Lelouch hissed to them. "I'll destroy all of you!"

"Running away from us, Lelouch?" Cornelia jeered when she caught on to Lelouch's plan to escape from them. "That is not what the great Zero was known to do."

He glared at her before hoisting GQ's body on his shoulder.

"Trust me, Cornelia," he sneered, "I'm not running away."

Reluctant as they may, the Black Knights chose to let Lelouch walk away from with a promise that he would someday obliterate them. They knew they have a chance to kill him the moment he turned his back but given the powers Superman and the Flash have, they knew it would be futile. Their future attempts would also be in vain now that Lelouch has allies more powerful than any knightmare frames that is why they need to find a way to take them down first before going to Lelouch's head.

They watched in mixture of surprise and confusion when Kallen followed them out of the hangar. Her intentions as to why she followed were unknown to the Black Knights but they knew that whatever information she has, they could use it against them.

* * *

"Lelouch!"

Kallen's voice made them halt from their walking and look at her in confusion. Lelouch has made it clear that he now has nothing to do with the Black Knights and would destroy them with any chance he got.

So, what does she want?

"What is it, Kallen?" He asked; no emotions were seeping out of his voice when he said this.

Kallen never beat around the bush and said, "I'm going with you."

Lelouch raised a brow at what she said. He made it clear that the Black Knights were now his enemies and she was included. Why does she want to come with him?

Perhaps, it is because the chances of getting Japan back was high if she took his side and not the Black Knights'... or maybe because Zero has been a big effect on her life than he previously thought?

"That won't do, Kallen. They're your friends and it is good if you take their side, not mine." He said, still with no emotions on his voice.

"Besides," he continued, "Japan's not my problem now."

It seemed that his words triggered something on Kallen's mind. Her face contorted into angry one and her lithe body shivered as she tried to contain her anger.

"What did you say?" She lowly hissed. "Japan's not your problem now?"

She attempted to step closer to him but Flash blocked her way before she could make step.

"You're the one who started this all! So, why the hell aren't you fixing this mess you've made?!"

"If I remember correctly, Kallen," he turned his back and started to walk away from whilst still talking, "I'm not the one who stole the poison gas chamber from Clovis, which started this all."

Kallen was left to watch Lelouch's back as he walked away from her; regrets and doubt starting cloud her mind as she thought about what Lelouch has said.

If they did not stole the poison gas from Clovis, would all of this still happen?

Although, she knew the truth; it would still happen one way or another.

"Lelouch's right, ya know." Flash spoke. "It would be better if you stay with the Black Knights."

"And why would that be?" Kallen asked stubbornly.

"Because you need to learn how to fight the odds by yourself." Superman stated before following Lelouch with Flash walking behind him.

* * *

 **Command Base**

After dealing with Tamaki on the Ikaruga, Batman received a report from Alfred about multiple explosions that happened on a shopping district in Tokyo Settlement. He knew right from the start that it was Joker behind the explosions and knew that he should go there immediately.

However, his primary task was to transport C.C. and Shirley back to the base to ensure their safety both from the Black Knights and the Britannians.

Batman decided to spare a few minutes to transfer the two girls to the base before going to the shopping district to ensure their safety. If he decided to bring the two with him in the shopping district, Joker and his goons may found a way to kidnap them and use them against Lelouch.

Or worse, they may venture outside his Batplane and get caught with the chaos that was happening inside the shopping district.

" _Master Wayne,"_ Alfred's voice took Batman's attention away from his thoughts, " _Master Lelouch and Master Kent are en route to the shopping district. ETA forty seconds."_

"What about Flash?"

" _He delivered GQ's body and he's now en route to Deadshot and Killer Croc's location to get Miss Milly."_

Shirley's curiosity peaked when Alfred uttered Milly's name. Batman knew then and there that she would ask a series of questions on how he knew Milly and his connection to her.

"How do you know about Milly?" And he was right.

Batman sighed and said, "I'll tell you later."

C.C., who was already seething in anger because of his apparent dismissal of their questions, stomped towards Batman's position in front of the Batplane's controls and yanked him out on his seat.

Good thing he managed to set the Batplane's controls to autopilot before she yanked him.

"I'm sick and tired of you not answering our questions, Mr. Whoever-you-are!"

Despite her staggering anger towards him, Batman still kept his cool and let her vent, which surprises C.C.. It was a known fact that whoever angers her would always cower and hide before she could utter a single word to express her emotion. That always happens to Tamaki and the rest of the Black Knights but never to Lelouch which always frustrates her not to know what ticks the young man.

"Now, aren't you going to tell us something? Huh?" C.C. grinned evilly as she wait for his explanation.

"Hm?" He hummed in thought and continued, "Later."

His reply made C.C. shiver in intense indignation but he ignored her and went back to piloting the Batplane, leaving her huffing and puffing whilst Shirley comfort her.

"We're here."

He slowly lowered the Batplane on the ground and left the ignition on. Without any signal or whatsoever to the girls, Batman exited the plane and left them inside. The two looked at each other in question before following him outside where they saw soldiers doing their tasks, not minding those around them.

"Would you mind walking faster?" Batman grumbled impatiently.

The two picked up their pace and followed him until they were in front of a closed door. They were about to enter when Batman spoke.

"Stay there. Don't do anything and don't go out until I say so. My colleagues would guard you to ensure that you two won't escape."

"So, we're your prisoners?" C.C. said; her eyes narrowed into slits as she continued to stare at the caped crusader.

Batman was silent for a few seconds. He was contemplating if he would tell them about Lelouch's orders or not but he knew that they've already connected the dots and guessed about his involvement to him.

So, instead of telling them like he planned earlier, he just decided to let Lelouch be the one to things to them. Besides, he's the only person to know all of the happenings and answers to their possible questions.

"Just get inside, will you?"

C.C. rolled her eyes and entered the room without any protests. She knew arguing with a man who was very much like Lelouch would be futile. They were known to be incredibly stubborn.

When the door closed behind their backs, the two were left gaping at the things that occupied the room. A large plasma television on the front of the room with comfortable-looking couches right in front of it. Playing on the plasma television was a movie they were quite sure they haven't seen in their life. On the coffee table between the couch and the plasma television were a dozen of pizza that C.C. bet were still hot. Placed on the same table were CD's of different movies that they knew they would enjoy watching.

"This," C.C started, "is what I call paradise!"

She never wasted any time and quickly jumped on the couch, making herself comfortable. Reaching across the table, she took a pizza box from its neat pile and quickly took a munch on it after opening its box.

"Well, aren't you gonna take a seat?" C.C. said to Shirley whilst her mouth were still full.

Shirley slowly approached the couch with dread on her stomach. Something was not right around them but she wasn't quite sure about what it was.

"Uhm, C.C.?" She asked, skeptic if it was right to ask her knowing that she would just dismiss her worries.

"What?" C.C. answered after swallowing a mouthful of pizza.

"Do you think there's something wrong around us?"

C.C. stopped eating and scrunched her brows in thought whilst looking around her. When she never noticed anything wrong around her, she shrugged and quickly went back to eating.

"Maybe it's just your hallucinations, Shirley."

"Or maybe you never realized it's wrong to eat someone's pizza."

They never expected it, really... but when someone speaks out of the blue, it was bound to get them scared and make them scream in fright and surprise.

Who would not be? If a person sees a green man with pointy ears and a mysterious hooded person with four sparkling red eyes, they were bound to scream for their lives or even pass out.

Which, was what happened to Shirley.

* * *

"Do you think it would work?" Jeremiah asked Cyborg who was busy working on different robotic limbs that he would attach on his body.

"Yeah, of course." He typed on his keyboard and an image was brought on the monitor. He motioned for Jeremiah to look close and he quickly started to explain things to him.

"This robotic limbs were highly advanced and mechanized technology. Some were even crafted on Superman's Fortress of Solitude where, I can assure you, advanced technology can be found."

"Scientists from S.T.A.R. Labs assembled this parts and ensured that they were highly sufficient before sending to me for testing, modifications and final adjustments since I was the only one who could check if these things work before attaching it to you."

"Now, these parts were modified to get you linked to the internet, both yours and ours. In ours, you are linked to both surfaced web and deep web and are in need of a tough anti-virus program that could protect you from cyber attacks via virus. This virus program should be modified once every week or once a month to ensure its high-efficiency and protection against cyber attacks."

"How do I use this parts?" Jeremiah asked.

Cyborg was about to reply when suddenly, a loud scream coming from the entertainment room got their attention. Jeremiah was quick to exit the room they were in whilst Cyborg stayed behind to check the surveillance cameras for possible dangers inside the entertainment room.

When he did see the cause of the commotion inside the entertainment room, instead of following Jeremiah to help the two girls, he just sat back and laughed at the ongoing ruckus.

' _Pizza always cause problems, anyway.'_ He thought as he went back on his work and let Jeremiah handle them.

* * *

 **Government Bureau**

"What are your plans, Schneizel?" Cornelia asked as she sipped the lemon tea on the cup she was holding. In front of her was Schneizel and Kanon who were also enjoying their own cup of tea.

"With Black Knights hating the guts of our demonic brother, he was bound to get down sooner rather than later but with those men interfering in my plans, it just gave Lelouch an upper hand against us." Schneizel said.

"We could always offer them something, Your Highness." Kanon said after he took a sip of his tea. "Something worthy than what your brother gives them. It would make a good barter for their alliance."

Cornelia hummed in approval. Schneizel, on the other hand, were skeptical about the plan. Superman and other two showed that they were clearly loyal to Lelouch.

Then again, he managed to get the 'loyal' Black Knights turn their backs against Lelouch. If was successful with, he could always do it again to manipulate the superpowered men to betray Lelouch and work for them.

"Is there any news about father?" Cornelia asked. It was already a long time when she last heard about her father.

Schneizel's eyes hardened when the subject was changed to their father. His absences were becoming more and more frequent, resulting in him neglecting his duties as emperor. His attitude towards 'mundane tasks' were the reason why they were now dealing with Lelouch.

If he just resolved it in the first place, then they would not have any problems with him.

"He is here in Area Eleven, so to speak." Kanon was the one who answered. "But we never knew where his fleet went. All we know is that His Majesty brought his own fleet and the Knight of One. No more news about him after that."

"Your Highness, do you think His Majesty learned about those men now?"

Schneizel gave a scoff at what he said and took another sip of his tea before replying, "Perhaps, he still has no knowledge about our retreat in the battle. If so, then His Majesty would have contacted me by then. I bet Sir Bismarck still has not arrive in wherever His Majesty were. That should explain why they both has not contacted me."

The door of their room opened suddenly and Claudio Darlton, adopted son of late Andreas Darlton, entered with a frown on his face.

"Your Highness," he placed his fist on his chest and bowed, saluting to the royalties inside the room. "I have come with a grieve news."

The three suddenly became alert with Claudio's news.

"What is it?"

"The Omotesando Mall has been terrorized by unknown group of men."

Cornelia gritted her teeth in anger at Claudio's news. She knew the people behind it was the Black Knights for she knew they were the ones who has the reason to. They just showed that they would do anything, even implicating the innocent Britannians on their bloody campaign for freedom.

"Send in Sir Weinberg and Sir Kururugi. Tell them to handle the situation and take the Glaston Knights with them." Schneizel ordered. "I want this immediately dealt with!"

"Yes, Your Highness!"

With one last bow towards the royalties, Claudio exited the room to inform Gino Weinberg and Suzaku Kururugi about their mission.

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

"Are you not going to do anything other than paint?" Starfire asked as she watched Clovis paint a portrait of the Titans Tower.

Clovis looked at her for a second before returning to his painting. He just answered a short, "No." in reply to her question.

"Just leave him there, Starfire. It's his hobby." Nightwing shouted as he finished cooking the barbeques for their launch.

With Cyborg, Beast Boy and Raven absent and in a mission, the remaining Titans (Starfire, Nightwing, Aqualad and Speedy) were frequently succumbing into boredom everyday. Their absences made them sad and miss them which greatly affected their performances and tasks. Good thing, though, there haven't been any crime alert caused by the supervillains. Small-time and big-time crimes such as robbery and drug cartels caused by non-powered men were their attention has been focused to.

After the Justice League has left for their mission, Damian, the current Robin, brought Clovis to the Titans Tower for some unknown reasons. He just specifically said, "Guard him or else... "

They didn't need him to say the 'or else'.

Now, they left to fend for the obnoxious ex-prince who always spends his time either painting or irritating the shit out of them. The only joy they could get from him was from his paintings but that didn't make up to how obnoxious and irritating he was.

"Do you have any news about my sister, Starfire?" Clovis asked, holding back a scornful scoff as he continued to finish his painting. He was still angry with Damian for leaving him with a bunch of teenagers (not really) and separate him from the wonderful scenery of Earth from the outer space.

Nightwing gritted his teeth and scornfully retorted, "Not yet, _Your Highness._ "

From his seat, Aqualad whispered, "Is there any way to send him back where he come from?"

Speedy hung his head, hopelessly. "There's no way unfortunately."

* * *

 **Omotesando Mall**

Superman and Lelouch landed graceful on the remains of the former Omotesando Mall; the ruins were black caused by multiple explosions and fire that erupted from some stores. Dead bodies, almost unrecognizable due to the massive damage they've received, littered on the floor with some people inspecting some bodies for their missing loved ones. The wounded ones were crying and pleading for help to some people who were scouring the remains.

"My God!" Superman gasped as he watched the helpless people pleading for help and crying for for their loved ones.

"H-help… me…" He caught a severely wounded man who stumbled towards him and brought him towards a safer place. "P-please... "

"Don't worry, mister. Help's on the way." He assured and comforted the man. Turning to Lelouch (who was also helping some people to get to safety), he shouted, "Contact the US Military! Have them send rescue teams and doctors immediately!"

"On it!" Lelouch quickly sent out a distress message to the command base informing of their current situation in former shopping district.

"We need to stop Joker once and for all or else this world would perish under him." Superman commented as he continued to help some wounded people.

Lelouch approached a rubble where he knew a kid was stuck underneath. Scanning the rubble using his x-ray vision, he found out that the kid's legs has been pinned down by the rubble and possibly need an amputation. He carefully lifted the rubble with one hand and the other slid the kid off underneath the rubble.

"It's okay." He gently comforted the crying kid before gently lifted him on his arms and took him in the safe place away from the ruins and close to the other survivors.

"There's no more sign of Joker and his goons here but they killed more survivors on their way when they escaped." Superman said, grief and anger were on his voice as he watch the result of Joker's horrible actions. He knew that this was not the last as long as Joker is around.

"I heard Suzaku's coming, Lelouch." Superman tilted his head towards the direction where Suzaku and his team was coming from.

"I knew they would but they were late." He commented as he listened to the US rescue team's siren, which was closer than Suzaku's convoy. "I know they would pin this on me or maybe, to the Black Knights."

Superman intercepted the rescue team to give some instructions to them. He gave specific instructions to prioritize the critically wounded people and search for the survivors underneath the rubbles. He and Lelouch would help them in searching, giving them an edge and to shorten the time for searching.

"He's here."

Lelouch looked at the convoy as it descend with the Tristan and the Glaston Knights flanking it. Suzaku was the first one to get off the VTOL and his eyes immediately scanned the area and landed on Lelouch.

"So, you the one behind this?" He said with hints of anger and frustration on his voice.

* * *

 **Command Base**

Anya Alstreim has spent her time scanning her surroundings for some information on where she was held detained. She has long given up on escaping after her third attempt in escaping failed; she had underestimated the security on the place she was in. She even attempted to contact someone using her camera phone but the signal around her was jammed or something because she has not received anything from the outside world for the past hour or so.

"This sucks." She replied apathetically whilst busy scrolling on her camera phone for pictures.

Whilst scrolling on her camera phone, she never noticed a pink haired girl quietly entering the room and watching her.

When she did, she let out a loud gasp.

"Princess Euphemia?"

She cannot believe her eyes-there in front of her was the deceased Third Princess of Britannia looking very much alive and healthy. Her once kind and innocent demeanor was now replaced with hardened and mature now, indicating that she has grown up in a year that she was presumed dead.

"Hello, Anya Alstreim."

* * *

 **A/N:** After rewriting this chapter for three times, FINALLY! Writer's Block is a very tough enemy!

Anyways, just leave a review or PM me guys if you have any questions in regards to this chapter. Oh, and I'm accepting requests on who DC characters should be featured in future stories. Just let me know and I'll gladly squeeze them in the story.

Cheers! :)


	17. Turn 16: The Bittersweet Reunion

Arc II, Turn 16: The Bittersweet Reunion

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

 **9:23**

Charles zi Britannia watched the recorded footage of the earlier battle with keen interest and curiosity.

He honestly expected that the battle would bore him to the point that he would just resorted in ridiculing the every move both party made. The whole point of the battle was just meaningless to him. What he did not expect was the unexpected turn of events that made him baffled and excited all at once.

The powers they have displayed was out of the world compared to what he have-the geass. More complex and powerful. If he has that kind of power, then he would not have to resort to do meaningless tasks to complete the Sword of Akasha and he could inflict orders he pleased on every living human in earth.

"Have we have any information on these men?" He asked Bismarck.

Bismarck hung his head in utter shame for his competence to carry out the task the Emperor has given him.

"No, Your Majesty."

Charles hummed as he continued to watch on his personal laptop and take mental notes on what caught his eyes. He already expected Bismarck's answer and it was not really that important to him. All he wanted was to get his own information before someone else does-before Lelouch or Schneizel does.

Pausing the footage, he focused on the man with green tight suit and inspected him. The power he wields was clearly coming from his left hand. He zoomed the footage and continued to inspect.

"His hands were closed." He muttered. Despite the silence of his words, Bismarck still caught on to his words with confusion marring his face.

"What, Your Majesty?"

Charles leaned back on his seat and turned to Bismarck; all traces of interest and curiosity vanished on his face and was replaced with impassive one.

"The man…" He said. "It seems his powers were coming from his left fist."

Bismarck frowned, "Do you think he uses some kind of device to release that kind of power?"

"Then tell me, Bismarck," Charles narrowed his eyes to the Knight of One, "what kind of device that emits that kind of power, would fit in a fist?"

"Perhaps, a ring, Your Majesty."

Charles cocked an eyebrow at Bismarck's answer. Whilst it may seem illogical, Bismarck's answer may still be true.

The ring was the only thing that could be worn between fingers, after all.

"I want you to investigate this man." Charles commanded. "You would report to me directly, as always, and all of the reports gathered would be undisclosed, even to the other royalties."

"What about the man with the blue suit and red cape?"

Charles narrowed his eyes at Bismarck and smirked.

"I'll ask Lelouch about him."

The Shinkiro's explosion did not escaped Charles' eyes.

How would it explode… when no one is attacking the Shinkiro minutes after the man appeared?

Charles knew that the man's appearance and the Shinkiro's explosion was of no coincidence. It may be a plan due to several circumstances and that is why he need to isolate the evidences and information they would collect from the other royalties.

It would be his greatest achievement if he would get a power like the men have and one way or another, he would.

* * *

 **Command Base**

Anya Alstreim was very sure that the Third Princess of Britannia-the one who massacred millions of Japanese almost a year ago-was dead. She was there when they buried her; watching as they lay her six feet under. She was one of the last few who left the cemetery as the most attendees went to do their things back in their homes.

Now, she watched as the once-thought dead princess stare at her with no emotions on her once-kind face.

How was she alive? She has read enough reports and attended her burial to know that she is truly dead.

But the important question that has been bugging young Anya's mind was, ' _What changed?'_

One look on the princess was enough to know that the past year and the days after the massacre has made her mature and serious, completely erasing her kindness and innocence. Perhaps, that was the reason that made her change… the cruelty and manipulation she has suffered from those who abused her kindness.

"Nice to see you again, Lady Alstreim."

Contrary to what she has said, Anya knew that Euphemia was not happy to see her judging by the look she was giving her.

"I am shocked to see you in the enemy's lair, Princess Euphemia."

Anya wanted to punch herself. She wanted to ask her the questions that was bugging her mind the moment Euphemia entered her prison cell but all that left on her mouth was lame response. However, she knew it was still a better response than gaping and staring mindlessly at Euphemia.

"Does Princess Cornelia knew you are still alive?"

She knew she had hit a sore subject when Euphemia gulped and tightened her fists, clearly showing that she was not expecting her to ask a question about her sister.

"No." Her short response to Anya.

Anya nodded and was about to ask a question when the Green Lantern, the one who made an entrance in the battle earlier, entered.

"What is it, Hal?" Euphemia asked.

Unknown to the two, Anya silently opened the voice recorder of her camera phone to record their meeting and use as an evidence for their later plans. It is a good thing she did because she knew she would forget the Green Lantern's name. If she would be lucky, she might even get a picture of him with mask on.

Hal momentarily glanced at Anya before answering Euphemia's question.

"Kilowog wanted to conduct a training with you with John. He said you should be there in five minutes."

Euphemia nodded. "Okay, let me just finish here."

With one last nod at Euphemia, Hal exited the room.

"Anya," she started, "my sister doesn't need to know that I'm still alive. It's my life and I don't need others to dictate on how I should live it."

Euphemia turned on her heels and followed Hal outside the room, leaving no parting glance on the prisoned Anya.

Little did she know, the moment Hal exited, Anya's eyes was already tainted with red tint, signifying that the late Empress Marianne has already taken Anya's consciousness.

The same as Anya's expression and to those who has seen the battle earlier, Empress Marianne was also shocked to the core as she watched Euphemia leaving the room.

* * *

"Hey!" V.V. shouted to the soldier that was guarding his prison cell. "I'm hungry!"

The soldier nonchalantly glanced on his prison cell before returning to the book he was reading. "It ain't lunch yet, kid. You'll have your lunch later."

V.V. growled at the soldier one last time before stomping back on his bed. Lying down, he opted to watch the ceiling to pass the time and wait for his lunch to be delivered.

Minutes passed, V.V slowly felt the boredom creeping on his mind as he tried to focus his mind on the escape plan he concocted but failing effortlessly. Slowly, his mind was succumbing to the boredom coupled with silence and he was losing to it.

The soldier must have noticed his silence and the next V.V. knew, a book was thrown on his face.

"Read that book, kid." He simply said before exiting V.V.'s prison room, probably to get another thing to pass his time.

V.V. stared at the book on his hands and back to the retreating back of the soldier. As soon as he exited the room, V.V. approached his cell door and tried to open it with a hair clip he managed to get on a female officer.

"Open, you piece of shit!" He grunted as he lodge the hair clip on the lock. "Come on, open!"

"Hey, what're you doing?!"

V.V. froze when he heard the familiar voice of the guard. Looking up, he saw him pointing a gun at his direction.

"Drop what you're holding, you fucking piece of shit!"

V.V. immediately dropped the hair clip he was holding and watched helplessly as the soldier lunged at him and gripped his clothes. With his face against the cell door and unable to move, the soldier took the advantage and injected V.V. with sedatives.

"N-no! Urgh!" V.V. tried to struggle but the force of the soldier's pull was cramming his face further between the bars of his cell. The slight pain of the syringe penetration on his skin went unnoticed by him as he flailed his arms wildly in attempt to free himself. Still, it was not enough as he feel his body go numb and his mind overtaken by blackness due to the sedatives the soldier injected on him.

"Sleep tight, you brat!" The soldier said as let go V.V.'s clothes and went back on his seat, unbothered by the fact that V.V. was unconscious on the cold, hard floor.

"What happened here?"

The soldier stood from his seat when he heard Harley Quinn's voice, questioning him about the unconscious V.V.

"The brat was attempting to escape, Quinn." He simply said and waved a hand to show his attempt to dismiss the subject. "The sedatives I injected took him out."

"Oh, is that it?" Harley cooed.

It was really coincidental that she stumbled upon V.V.'s cell room. It was clearly an incident.

Really.

She was bored and everyone has their own tasks, including the cyborg Jeremiah, so, she decided to take a grand tour of the base.

It took her fifteen minutes to locate the jail cells and was about to leave the area when she heard a commotion in V.V.'s suppose jail cell. Curiously, she peered and saw V.V. struggling against the soldier's hold from the other side of the cell door.

"What do you want, Quinn?"

Harley hummed as she thought about the possible ways she could play with the unconscious V.V. Perhaps, she could borrow the kid for a while just to appease her boredom?

Yeah, like hell the soldier would give her a permit. Though, it would not hurt to try, right?

"Can I borrow V.V. for an hour, pretty please?"

She peered to the soldier with puppy dog eyes to weaken his resolve but it seems to her that it was ineffective,

The soldier, clearly unfazed by her attempt to blackmail him using her puppy dog eyes, scoffed in anger at her insistence. "No, goddamnit, Quinn! Go back to your work!"

Harley gritted her teeth in anger at the soldier's outbursts and punched him; knocking him unto the cold, hard floor-the same floor V.V. was sleeping on.

"Jeez, you're so rude!" She said.

Harley took the keys on V.V.'s cell and took the sleeping boy on her shoulder before getting the out of the prison area.

As she run away carrying the sedated V.V., Harley was starting to think about the 'experiments' she would conduct on the young immortal. She just have to be careful before someone noticed that she took the kid to use as her play toy to cure her boredom.

Nevertheless, she never anticipated that there was a security camera in all corners of the command base and that Cyborg was waiting for her in her room after watching what had transpired earlier.

* * *

 **Omotesando Mall**

"Lelouch," Suzaku bitterly spat Lelouch's as soon as he faced his former best friend.

Casting a glance on his peripheral, Suzaku took note of Superman's presence as the said man continued to help the victims of the bombing and clear a path for the emergency team. Unknown to him, Superman was clearly aware of Suzaku's calculating gaze thanks to the remaining window glass in front of him.

"Nice to see you arriving late, Suzaku Kururugi. What kind of a response team are you?" Lelouch arrogantly said after helping a young woman on her feet.

"Tch," Suzaku scoffed arrogantly and faced Lelouch with accusations clearly written on his face. "Of course, _you_ would be here earlier than us. The culprit has to prepare the bombs and watch this place explode."

Lelouch nearly stopped on helping the woman when he heard Suzaku's accusations towards him. He tried to control the emotions that surge in him but found that he was lacking control to do so.

Clenching his fists tightly, he turned around and faced Suzaku; his face ablaze with despicable rage towards his so-called 'best friend'.

"How dare you," he lowly hissed and grabbed Suzaku's collar and yanked him close to his face to let him show his anger. "Accuse me of such things, Kururugi?! Need I remind you, that I was in front of you when the bombing happened?"

He tightened his grip on Suzaku's collar, which made him start to choke as Lelouch block his airway.

"Or are you dumb enough to forget about it, huh? Sir Kururugi?" He mocked Suzaku, unbothered by the fact that Suzaku was starting to turn violet from the lack of oxygen.

Fortunately for him, Superman intervened, although it was later than he expected.

Placing a firm hand on Lelouch's shoulder, Superman tried to talk Lelouch out of his anger and make him calm but he knew it would take several minutes for him to do so. If he did not act quickly, Lelouch would surely kill Suzaku and he knew it would not end well for Lelouch.

"That's enough, Lelouch." He hissed on Lelouch's ear. "Let him go."

Lelouch did not budged and continued to strangle Suzaku.

Superman, seeing the Knight of Seven's violet face, immediately pushed Lelouch off Suzaku. The force of his push was enough to make Lelouch collide on a solid wall of a shop and leave a large dent on it.

The people around them were just watching the scene and was left amused, confused, and scared as they saw their angry faces. They knew that if one of them, either Sir Kururugi or the black-haired man would explode in anger, it would escalate quickly and the destroyed mall would be their battleground. Although, their fear quickly shifted to the man who helped them earlier when he pushed the man too hard on a solid wall and managed to dent it. The impact would surely kill the man but they were surprised when he stood up.

Lelouch could feel the sharp projectiles grazing his hands as he used it to support himself to stand. He eyed Suzaku and saw him still catching his breath whilst observing him-the violet color on his face was gone as he continued to inhale deep breaths of air.

"We need to go, now!" His attention shifted to Superman who was approaching him. "This would not end well if we don't get away from here."

Eyeing Suzaku once more, Lelouch reluctantly nod his head in affirmation and walked away.

"You are guilty, Lelouch!" He heard Suzaku taunt him as he continued to walked out of the mall. "You are running away from your sins, again!"

Lelouch restrained himself from going back inside and beat the shit out of Suzaku. His control over his anger was starting to slip but thankfully, Superman ushered him away from the mall.

Although the distance he put between him and Suzaku did not stopped him from hearing his mockery, Lelouch was still glad that Superman did it for he knew he was bound to erupt in rage as long as he was in Suzaku's presence.

"You need to learn how to control your anger, Lelouch." Superman said as soon as they flew away. "It would not end well for us if you don't let your emotions under control."

Lelouch stayed silent and let Superman continue to speak.

"We decided to let Raven teach you a thing or two about emotional control since she was the only one, besides me, who could relate to what you're enduring as of now."

"When will we start?"

They started to climb to higher altitude to avoid any Britannian or Black Knights aircraft that was scouting the area. Good thing they did because the Ikaruga navigated below them seconds after.

"As soon as you'd like to."

They reached the command base just in time to see Flash's arrival with Milly on his back. The latter was too scared to even move a single muscle due to the journey she endured courtesy to Flash.

Superman slowly approached Flash and Milly whilst the former was still trying to convince the latter to move.

"Milly? Are you alright?"

Milly looked at Superman with wide eyes and pointed a finger towards him. Her face was showing a shocked looked as she came to realization on who was standing in front of him.

"You!" She exclaimed. "You're the one in the battle earlier!"

Superman nodded slowly as he stared at the young woman in front him. He was about to open his mouth when Milly suddenly grabbed his shoulders and attempted to lower his face to match hers but failed to do so. Her eyes were shining in delight as she spoke fastly.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Where are you from?"

"Can you show me your super cool super powers?"

And the questions goes on and on and on.

Superman tried to stop her from rambling nonsense questions but even he, a super powered alien, cannot stop her from her talking. He just stood there, listening to her as she spoke nonstop.

"Would you do me a favor of interviewing you? I mean," Milly sweetly smiled at him, "I could not pass this opportunity to interview the most popular man for the past two hours or so!"

Luckily for him, Lelouch finally decided to intervene after Superman gave him a glare for laughing.

Approaching Superman and the oblivious Milly, he prepare himself for the possible verbal assault Milly would give once she found that he knew Superman.

Although he knew she would thank him for it later.

"Hey, Milly." He lamely said.

* * *

 **If one were to ask Milly about whether or not she believe in super powered creatures, she would likely howl in laughter in their face and mocking them for asking about it. It was not possible, really.**

However, she was proven wrong when the sky lit in purple light and a man wearing a green costume turned the purple light into green.

She was once more proven wrong when a man with a red cape zoomed across the sky and a man, faster than the fastest knightmare frame, came and got her from a man called Deadshot.

Too many men appeared today, eh?

The 'faster-than-the-fastest-knightmare-frame' man introduced himself as The Flash (what kind of a name is that, anyway?) and proceeded to run with her on his back.

Was it a good experience?

No, it was not.

Due to the speed they were going at (she had a hunch that they were going on Mach 1 or even higher), the environment around her became blurred which made her dizzy. The harsh wind pricked her skin and clouded her sense of smell to the point that her lungs felt overwhelmed. Good thing, though, they reached their destination in just a minute, which for her, took almost a lifetime.

She never had a chance to take a look around her because she spotted the popular man in the last two hours.

The man with the red cape.

She felt lucky to find his base. It would give her a chance to interview him along with his 'super friends' that might help her in boosting her name in Journalism world. A once-in-a-lifetime chance to cement her reputation among her peers and compete to the most known personalities.

So, she bravely and confidently (almost to the point of effrontery) talked to the man despite the fact that she was scared to death for her life.

She asked and asked and asked plenty of questions which rendered him speechless and just stood in front of her.

Milly's ears perked when she heard a very familiar voice calling her name. She decided to brush the idea of Lelouch working with the enemies and just focused on getting valuable information through interview on the powerful man.

"Prez, are you deaf?" Lelouch repeated.

Milly's eyes widened when Lelouch called her name once again. It was not some figment of her imagination-he was really here.

She turned around, still shocked with Lelouch's presence.

"L-Lelouch?"

She looked at Superman then back to Lelouch as she refused to entertain the idea of Lelouch working for the enemies.

"W-why… are you…?"

Superman sighed and said, "I think it's time we paid Jeremiah a visit, don't you think?"

* * *

 **"** **Diana?" Euphemia approached the Amazonian hesitantly.**

"Can we talk?"

Diana brought down the book she was reading and stared at the girl. There was something that troubles the mind of young Euphemia and she knew it involves her sister.

Ever since they arrived in her dimension, Euphemia started to get nervous and anxious as if she was expecting for something to happen. They tried to approach her but she always deny that there was a problem.

"What is it?"

Euphemia refused to make an eye contact with her as she spoke.

"Uhm, what would you do if…" She stopped.

"Go on. I'm listening." Diana encouraged.

Euphemia cleared her throat and silently thanked Diana for her encouragement. Bracing herself and her newfound confidence, she told Diana the problem that bothers her ever since she came back.

"Do you think I should pay my sister a visit?"

Diana sighed deeply and faced the troubled the girl. It wasn't her place to give any insights or comments about what she should since she doesn't know all the details about her sister.

However, she knew she has to say something since it would disappoint the girl.

"Euphie," she said, using her nickname to get her attention, "whether you visit your sister or not, I would like you to know that it's okay."

"I know you're thinking about the consequences it would bring into our team if your sister managed to see you or know about your existence. We also know that you don't want to disappoint your sister about your involvement with us."

Euphemia opened her mouth to object but Diana never gave her a chance to do so.

"It doesn't matter to us, Euphie. She's your sister and she has a right to know. She loves you. It is up to you now whether you're going to her or not but either way, we support your decision."

She smiled softly to the stunned girl in front of her and slightly ruffled her hair. The gesture brought a blinding smile to Euphemia's face and erased her once gloomy mood.

"Thank you, Diana."

"No problem." Diana walked past her and straight to the door but before she exited the room, she turned around and said,

"Care to join me in a sparring session?"

* * *

 ** **Government Bureau****

 **13:45**

Schneizel sat on his chair and tried to listen to the reports of his generals about the incident in the Omotesando Mall that took place earlier morning. Tiredness coupled with lack of sleep was slowly overwhelming his body and their boring reporting was adding to the sleepiness he was feeling.

Still, he pushed himself to stay up as he work on the incident and investigate on the possible culprits.

"Over fifty Britannians and ten Elevens were dead in the crime scene, Your Highness. Mostly died in explosion and any debris-related incident but there were some who died in suffocation and fire." General Humphries reported.

"A hundred civilians, both Britannians and Elevens, were wounded and twenty of our personnel were in the infirmary to treat the wounds they have gotten from the service."

"In short, we are now lacking on personnel, Your Highness ." Another one of his general, General Flynn, solemnly said.

Schneizel tapped his fingers on the table as he contemplated the implications that happened to him in the twenty-four hours. First, he found out that his dead brother, Lelouch vi Britannia, was actually the infamous Zero and was very much alive. Second, he managed to get something to use against him but that did not make up for the fact that he has superpowered allies. Though, he applauds himself in making his trusted allies, the Black Knights, turn against him.

That should balance the negativity he received the last couple of hours.

Yet, he did not expected the Omotesando incident.

"Any word on His Majesty?"

General Humphries nervously turned the page of the chart he was holding and quickly read the contents of the page.

"Uhm, General Worthington contacted His Majesty's Imperial Fleet to report the results and casualties of the war and to inform them of what happened in Omotesando. Sir Bismarck said that he would send three hundred personnel to aid us in conducting search and rescue on the incident."

"Sir Bismarck? No word from my father?" Schneizel said calmly in attempt to mask the irritation he felt towards his worthless father.

"Forgive me, Your Highness, but," General Humphries stopped and shook his head, "no, we did not received any word from him."

Schneizel inhaled deeply and motioned to the generals to get out of his office. The generals scurried to the door and out of his office.

"Kanon?"

Kanon did not hesitated and went to Schneizel's side.

"Tell me, why is my father like this?"

"I do not understand, Your Highness." Kanon said.

Schneizel sighed and reached for the glass of whiskey on his table. He kept silent for a minute and Kanon almost opened a different topic when he answered,

"He was the emperor of the realm. His job is to oversee every work we do to make Britannia rise," Schneizel's voice started to raise in every word he says, "and yet he views it as a mundane task!"

Kanon simply watched as Schneizel slammed his palms on the table and offered no reply to what he said. He felt that it would be better if he let the prince let his anger out towards his father.

It would be least thing he could do to help the prince in his situation.

"He failed as a father,"

Kanon's eyes widened in shock when he saw tears dropping on Schneizel's eyes.

In all the years they have known each other, Kanon never saw Schneizel cry. He was known as a callous, manipulating, and cold prince throughout the world with no regards to human life just as long as he do his job. It caught Kanon off guard to see Schneizel in his vulnerable state.

"I forgive him for that." Schneizel continued.

"I even forgave him after he sent Lelouch and Nunnally to Japan and never questioned his decision to stop my investigation on Empress Marianne's death."

He wiped the tears that started to flow on his cheeks and stared emptily at the bottle of whiskey on his table.

"Why? Why does he enjoyed to watch us suffer in silence? Why does he enjoyed to watch the world crumple beneath his feet and not do anything to aid us?"

Kanon never answered the prince's questions and opted to ponder it silence.

Sure, he noticed it but he never really given much thought to it. All the hardest works on the empire were all dumped in Prince Schneizel's lap and he always obey with no second thoughts for he knew he would do the empire and his people a good thing. He was always there to help and they always come victor whenever they return from their tasks.

Despite the impossibilities to complete some in success, he never heard Schneizel complain about it on his father. He do what he always ask and because of it, he earned massive rights to the throne.

He do his job, he strengthens his hold for throne. A win-win situation if you ask him.

What Kanon never expected was the pressure of doing all the works by himself-with no help from anyone other than him, his aide-de-camp; a job he should always do, not willing nor voluntarily.

He misjudged Schneizel as cold man with no feelings whatsoever. He forgot that he was also a _human_ capable of feeling every emotion known to humankind. He just buried it deep on his mind and let it built a pressure there; a ticking time-bomb for every emotionless mask he wears.

Kanon sighed deeply and walked out of Schneizel's office to leave him alone with his thoughts and feelings. Giving him time to ponder was the least thing he could offer as a confidant.

He decided to just drown himself in a much needed sleep.

Before he could open the door to his room, a ring of his phone alerted him of a call.

Without looking at the caller ID of the caller, he answered it in hopes that it was some soldier giving a good news for the first time.

"What?"

A chuckle sounded from the other end of line before a raspy voice of a man took over.

"Oh, come on, Kanon! Is that the way to treat your new friend?"

Kanon burrowed his brows together in confusion. As much as it sounds familiar, he could not remember where he heard the voice.

"Who are you?!" He shouted to his phone. All he heard as a reply was more laughing.

"Hey, I'm asking yo-"

"I've decided to take up on your offer. Let's be allies!"

There was a long silence on the other end of the line, which made Kanon think that the caller hung up. He was about to put his phone off when the man continued,

"Meet me at the Shinjuku Ghetto tomorrow night and bring your little prince. Don't bring any soldiers; just you two or else, there won't be any alliance between us!" He threatened.

"How can we be sure it is not a trap?"

"Don't worry, my dear Kanon! I'll be the only person you would see in a hundred meter radius!"

Kanon pondered about the man's proposition.

He wants an alliance but he never stated to whom he against. Is it safe to assume that he was talking to the Black Knights? Or to Lelouch?

Either way, he has to find out.

"What we would get from it? From the alliance?"

The man hums from the other end and replied, "I don't know. Maybe an ally against the bratty Lelouch or maybe a kryptonite for the man who calls himself 'Superman'?"

The man, then, proceeded to laugh louder making Kanon wince as the sound hurt his eardrums.

"I don't know! So many choices on your benefits and I prefer it to be that way!"

Kanon let the man continue to laugh as he assessed his last statement.

A bratty Lelouch? Kryptonite (or whatever is it, Kanon does not care) for the man who calls himself 'Superman'?

' _What the hell is this psychopath saying?!'_

"Anyways, I need to hang up. There's something I should do and I won't let fun of it go into waste."

There was a loud scream of a woman from the background and the man's laughter superseded the loud screams.

"One more thing," Kanon stayed quiet as he continued to listen, "my name's Joker, your friendly neighborhood clown!"

Another round of laughter was heard on the phone's speakers and a click end it and the call.

Kanon was left in his position in front of the door of his room as memories of the crazy clown he met during the mission to arrest Zero bombarded his mind.

' _What the hell have I gotten myself into?'_

* * *

 ** **Omotesando Mall****

 **18:07**

"This is really ridiculous, Euphemia!" Raven exclaimed as she followed Euphemia inside of the destroyed shopping complex. She never really agreed to it but she can't let Euphemia outside alone since Joker and his allies are on the loose. Good thing she and Beast Boy managed to follow her discreetly before she managed to find out their presence.

"Yeah, Euphie! Let's just go 'ome and we'll never tell this to anyone!" Beast Boy whined in his bird form.

Raven nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Batman strictly said that no one should go out without any companion or whatsoever."

"But I have you two." Euphemia pointed at their direction. "So this is technically not a violation."

"If I remembered correctly, you sneak out while they were working on something. It's just a coincidence that Cyborg saw you trying to pry open the door in the maintenance room and alerted us." Raven argued back, irritated.

"Whadd'ya wanted to come 'ere, anyway?" Beast Boy asked.

Euphemia was not sure herself. She heard what happened to the mall from some rescue workers who helped in the incident and she felt about. Though she was sad, it was not enough for her to have an overwhelming need to come to the incident in the dead of the night.

She never understood the need to go but she did anyway because of the curiosity that engulfed her mind.

"I'd bet my tofu Joker was the one behind this." Beast Boy said as he looked around at the mess that was once a mall. Raven and Euphie hummed in agreement.

Based on what Dick, Jason, Tim, Damian, and the others has told her, Joker was the most insane villain every superheroes have come across. His insanity and disregard of human life knows no bounds and he made sure to let others, superheroes or villains alike, know about it.

"Hey, Euphie,"

Euphemia looked at Beast Boy and saw him peering on something several meters ahead of them. His beady bird eyes squinted as he tried to find out what it was but the weak lighting coming from the moonlight prevented him from finding it out.

They stepped behind a large concrete post and observed it to ensure that it was not some hostile object or person.

"Is that a person?" Raven said when they noticed the object of their interest slightly move and its silhouette formed into a shape of a man.

"Maybe it's a survivor?"

Beast Boy said much louder than he intended to be, which quickly alerted the person and immediately went into search for the sound.

The three of them, stepped out from their spot and faced the mysterious person to offer him/her a helping hand. Euphemia was the first one to speak.

"Hello, are you wounded? We can hel-"

She stopped speaking once she saw who the person was. Panic and nervousness began to fill her stomach as her mind assessed every possible exit there was in the mall to escape the inevitable confrontation she was currently facing.

"No… it can't be," Euphemia muttered hopelessly. Beside her, Raven and Beast Boy were now alert and ready to escape with Euphemia once the person gave a negative signal.

"Eu-Euphie? But… how?"

Euphemia stepped back when her name was uttered in shock.

"Is that really you… Euphie?"

Euphemia's instincts kicked in and started to run away, with Raven and Beast Boy following behind her.

"Euphie, wait!"

Euphemia's run never faltered and she never looked back at the person even once. She just continued to put some distance between her and the least thing she expected to see tonight.

* * *

 **Undisclosed Location**

"What makes you think he was the person we were searching for?"

The woman in front of him bowed her head in a respectful manner and said, "He is powerful and capable to lead and manipulate those around him, My Lord. Very suitable and capable to lead your-"

"I need proof."

The woman raised her head and plainly said, "Very well, My Lord."

"If you managed to please with this 'powerful human' you say, I'll immediately issue an order to capture him so be ready." Her lord said, coldness seeping from his mouth as he observed the woman.

"Don't fail me this time."

"I assure you, My Lord," she clenched her fists as she tried to contain the humiliation she felt when she was reminded again of her failures by her lord, "I won't fail you this time."

.

.

.

"I swear."

* * *

 **A/N:** Finally! This chapter's up!

Anyways, I have a quiz for you guys. Try to guess who was the person Euphemia meet and the two in the last part of the chapter.

I'll pick first two reviewers with correct answer and they'll get a shout out in the next chapter!

Cheers! :)


	18. Turn 17: Joker's Overture no 1

Arc II, Turn 17: Joker's Overture no. 1

* * *

 **Omotesando Mall**

 **45 minutes before Euphemia, Raven, and Beast Boy's arrival**

Suzaku watched as Britannian rescuers finished their job of rescuing and evacuating all civilians inside the mall complex. They have not done much considering Lelouch and his men did most of their job, much to his annoyance.

In just a few minutes, the clock will strike at six and all of his men would go back to the Government Bureau to report on what happened at the mall. He knew he should go as well but their was something on his gut urging him to stay at the mall for a while.

Perhaps the culprit of the incident would show up again to assess the damage he has done? A risky move but he knew it was not unusual for a criminal to go back at the scene of the crime.

So, he decided to stay.

He told his men to go back at the Government Bureau and he would stay behind for just a couple of minutes, much to the reluctance of his men. Minutes after he told them about his decision, Suzaku watched in shadows as they left the mall complex, leaving him with only a flashlight and a car to use for traveling back to the Government Bureau.

Whilst waiting patiently for something to happen or for someone to arrive, Suzaku thought about the recent events that took place, especially the involvement of Superman to Lelouch.

They have yet to find any clue to Superman's identity much to Schneizel's displeasure. It would seem that the man knew how to cover his tracks efficiently and probably used his powers to his advantage.

How does he have his powers anyway? Is it because he also has geass?

There are so many questions on Suzaku's mind but it was all left unanswered. He knew Lelouch was the one who knew all of the answers but he was against the idea of waltzing in their territory to ask him about it. He could set up a meeting with him again but he knew Lelouch's trust in him drop to zero the last time they had a meeting in secret.

If only those jerks did not arrive…

' _Speaking of jerks…'_ Suzaku thought. ' _The man Lelouch called Joker and Bane… where are they?'_

' _Lelouch was really sure that the one named Joker was behind this. I don't know if I'm going to believe that but I have to consider it.'_

His trail of thoughts halted when he saw something out of the corner of his eye. Curious, he immediately approached the object that was slightly shining under the pale moonlight.

"A joker card?"

The thing on his hand was laced with dried blood and dusts but underneath it lies a message which sent chills on his spine.

' _I will burn this world to the ground and nothing would stop me, HAHAHAHA!'_

Despite the chilling atmosphere around him, Suzaku felt sweat beads forming on his forehead as he let the message sink on his mind. He knew right there and then, just with that simple message, that it was just the start.

Something big would happen and Suzaku fears that he could not do anything to stop it. He would be powerless for the first in his life.

"Maybe it's just a survivor?"

Suzaku snapped out of his stupor; his senses on high alert as an unfamiliar voice registered on his mind. He searched for the origin of the voice and was surprised when he saw two silhouettes from a distance. There is also a bird beside the duo and he guessed that it was also their company.

He was about to confront the two when a voice, that was very familiar to him, spoke.

"Hello, are you wounded? We can hel-"

' _T-that… voice…'_ He thought. ' _E-Euphie?!'_

Suzaku stepped closer to them and he unintentionally revealed himself to the two. His suspicions came true when she spoke once again.

"No… It can't be... "

"Eu-Euphie? But… how?"

"Is that really you… Euphie?"

Before he could step closer to her, Euphemia started to ran away. Her two companions (the unknown one and the bird) followed through and started running away (in the case of the bird, flying away) without any hesitance.

"E-Euphie! Wait!" He called as he ran after them; his eagerness after he saw Euphie alive was his determination.

Due to lack of sleep and exhaustion, Suzaku's stamina was slowly depleting from the run and his legs were slowly becoming numb but he ignored it in hopes of talking to Euphie again after a year of longing for her because of her supposed 'death'.

' _How was she alive anyway?_ '

Suzaku clearly saw and remembered Lelouch shooting her near heart and he was there beside her when she inhaled her breath. Her doctors tried to revive her on his command but it was futile.

She was dead.

He pushed his body to run faster but his legs gave up in exhaustion and he collapsed face first on the dirt. Shattered glasses punctured his legs making him yelp in pain but Euphemia did not even bothered to look at him to check if he was alright. He ignored the throbbing pain on his head and legs and watched as Euphemia ran away from him without even glancing at him and his pathetic state on the floor. He tried to get up but dizziness overtook his consciousness and he collapsed in the middle of a deserted and ruined shopping complex, alone and with no one to help.

* * *

Batman should've made it clear to Euphemia that she was not allowed to go outside: with or without companions. The risk of getting caught will be a hindrance to their plans and they have no time to spend on such trivial tasks that it may bring.

Sure they may have powers but they were up against time.

With Lelouch's rebellion and the impending doom that his world may suffer based on what the Guardians of the Universe said to Hal, it clearly showed that would need all of their concentration to plan and fight to neutralize the enemy before they could further damage Lelouch's world.

Problem is… they still have no clue to what they're really up against and that made him anxious and worried to the well-being of those around him.

That's why he did not hesitated to follow Euphemia when he noticed her anxiousness. He just got lucky that Raven and Beast Boy also noticed her disappearance and accompanied her to the shopping complex.

He saw all the things they did and heard everything they talked about… even the ones where Suzaku was involved in. He watched as Euphemia ran away from Suzaku and watched as he slipped into unconsciousness after having his head collide on the floor and loss of blood after having several large pieces of glass struck his legs.

Batman slightly felt guilty when the thought of leaving him there, bleeding, crossed his mind. It would surely do them a great job if he left him alone considering he was one of Lelouch's enemies.

He would've done so if not for the fact that Suzaku _was_ Lelouch's best friend (heavy emphasizing on was but he knew that the two should really reevaluate the meaning of friendship-as far as he knew, friendship does not involved getting on each other's throats) despite the trials they've experienced.

Batman would like to think that someone just manipulated Suzaku to turn him against Lelouch but he knew that was not the case. Suzaku knew what he was doing and he has free will to do what he wants to do.

The guilt he felt vanished when he realized that letting Suzaku live, to see the things he has done, was the good punishment for him.

Disgruntled, Batman stepped out of the dark confines he hid in and approached the unconscious body of the teenager. He first checked his pulse to find out if he was still really alive and sighed in relief when he felt a pulse. Weak as it may but it is still a pulse.

He was about to heave him up on his shoulder when he noticed a Joker card encased on his left fist.

' _I will burn this world to the ground and nothing would stop me, HAHAHAHA!'_

So he was right-Joker was the one behind the incident.

He may be working under Luthor but he knew that Joker was the leader of his squad and he acts on his will despite having Deathstroke on it.

Placing back the card on Suzaku's hands, the Dark Knight proceeded to carry his unconscious body back to the Batmobile. It would be a good idea if he just drop the body in front of the Government Bureau without any notice for the people there. It would stir a commotion but it would teach them a lesson not to leave their companions behind.

* * *

 **Government Bureau**

 **18:45**

Several soldiers were gossiping at the hangar bay of the Government Bureau instead of working on the repairs of the partially-destroyed knightmare frames. The events that shook the day were the subject of their talk.

"I heard from Lieutenant Colonel Samuels that the Emperor plans to bring the Knight of One, Four, Nine and Twelve here on Area Eleven as a replacement for the missing Knight of Six and Ten." One soldier gossiped.

"But I thought the Emperor was going to pull out the remaining Knights of Round away from Tokyo until they recovered from the casualties of the battle?" One soldier, bearing a name of Brandon, interrogated.

"Where did you get that intel, huh?" The first one asked, flabbergasted about the fact that there is a fake news that is roaming around the lower ranks.

Brandon stoically said, "From General Warwick."

Murmurs among their companions erupted when he said the name of his source. They did not know who to believe for they got the intel on both higher-ups.

Brandon was about to continue speaking when he saw the second princess, Princess Cornelia, approaching them with a large frown plastered on her face.

When his companions noticed the princess, they scrambled to salute at the princess, making her frown deeper.

"What are you doing on the time of work, privates?" Her nasally voice, laced with intimidation, made the soldiers shiver in fear and never even bothered to hide it.

One private was about to answer when the alarm signal blared, signaling an unknown individual trespassing in the Government Bureau. They all looked at Cornelia, waiting for her commands.

"All of you… get the trespasser! I want him alive!"

They all saluted and went to get their weapons and gears before heading to the area where the unknown trespasser breached. Behind them was Princess Cornelia, shouting several commands on to several soldiers.

When they got to the open field at the northern wing of the Bureau (the breached area), several soldiers immediately took noticed of the unconscious body of Kururugi Suzaku, lying on the dirt.

"Get him and surround the area!" Cornelia shouted.

The soldiers hastily obeyed, making sure first that the area was safe before approaching the Knight of Seven.

" _Don't worry,"_

They all got caught off guard when someone (dressed ridiculously) made an appearance at the rooftop of a second-storey building. He has gruff voice and his face, except his mouth area, was covered with a mask that almost resembled the head of a bat.

Scratch that… his whole body costume resembles a bat.

" _He's just unconscious from the fall. A minor concussion on his head and the several lacerations were from the glasses scattered on the shopping complex."_

"Who are you?! Why are you here?!" Cornelia shouted at him.

" _You'll know… soon."_ He answered shortly.

Cornelia became irritated at the man's arrogant behavior.

"Soon… huh?" Se turned to the soldiers and shouted, "Take him!"

The soldiers aimed their guns at him and fired but stopped when they saw that his armor deflected the bullets. Fortunately for them, three knightmare police were deployed to help them relieve the situation.

Using the slash harkens, the three knightmare police fired at the man but he expertly dodged it without any trouble.

"What the…?"

The man did a backflip down on the first knightmare police and attached an object to it before jumping to the second and third whilst doing the same thing he did on the first one.

When he landed safely on the ground, pressed the detonator on his hand, which caused the knightmares to collapse as huge surge of electric current toast it. They can hear the loud screams of those inside as they burn with their knightmare frames.

Cornelia grunted angrily at the incompetence of her subordinates but never said anything about it.

The soldiers must have noticed her becoming angry and quickly went to their job of capturing the hostile man.

Surrounding him and engaging him all at once was their best idea to beat him but they were astonished when he took down ten of their comrades with his bare fists against their number and guns.

One soldier amongst their ranks was known as an expert in martial arts and kung fu and no one amongst them (even in the higher ranks) could defeat him.

No one… until now.

Takahashi, the martial arts expert, was currently engaged in a fight with the man and by the looks to those around them, he was slowly losing.

"AHHHH!" Takahashi screamed when the man punched his gut, making him cough out blood. The man strike a finishing blow when he punched Takahashi head down to the ground; his neck snapping upon collision were loud to the ears of those around them.

With only three soldiers remaining, the man stopped and took a look at his surroundings to see the crippled and dead bodies of the soldiers he engaged in the fist fight.

" _I believe I've made my point."_ His gravely voice was serious as he gestured to the casualties he caused; the malice that was evident on his actions before were long gone.

Cornelia felt an involuntary shiver slide down on her spine. There was something to fear about the man and she knew it would do them no good if he would be involved in every battle they would be facing.

" _You should be grateful I brought him here and not let him die alone as I first intended."_

He never anything anymore when he turned around and escaped out of the Government Bureau, leaving Cornelia seething in anger and confusion.

* * *

 **Command Base**

 **20:53**

"So, when's the meeting gonna start?" Harley asked.

Every person inside the meeting room just stared at her, completely ignoring her after the stunt she pulled on V.V. If not for Cyborg spying on her after she escaped her room, then she would've made V.V. escaped and add to their growing list of problems.

"Come on! Don't ignore me!"

Green Arrow rolled his eyes and decided to break his silence to reprimand Harley.

"Just shut up, Quinn. You almost made V.V. escape. It's your fault why we're now ignoring you."

"But I'm bored! I need something to play with!"

Green Arrow ignored the glares of his comrades as he continued to argue with Harley and tried to not to lose his patience on the psychotic girl but was failing. Every nonsense she spout out of her mouth were slowly driving everyone mad and they were close to explode in angry mess.

Where was Batman when you need him? He was the only one who possibly tame (somehow) Harley.

"Would you all just shut up?" Lelouch calmly and irritably said as he massage his temple to ease the headache that was starting to grow due to the incessant ramblings around him.

Every person inside the meeting room stopped and looked at Lelouch, seeing him all calm and collected but they knew he was pissed off.

"Right." Green Arrow shot Harley a last glare before sitting back on his seat and turning back to Lelouch. "So… where are the others?"

The absence of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman made everyone worried. It was rare for them to miss a meeting and it might mean that something was amiss.

"Don't worry," Lelouch assured them, "they're just doing something important with Cyborg on the lab."

"Okay, then, we'll start the meeting now." Green Arrow said.

Lelouch stood from his seat and approached the large television screen that shows the reports of the casualties of the war.

"As you've heard, the Black Knights has defected against me and made an alliance with Schneizel. That left us fifteen percent less in terms of manpower and equipment, which, unfortunately for them, hasn't affected us in the slightest."

Several graphs came into view as Lelouch further tackled the reports.

"With the combined manpower of the United States military, the Task Force X under my care, and the Justice League under Superman and Batman's supervision, it is safe to say that we have enough manpower to eliminate any threat coming from both Britannia and the Black Knights. However, I predicted that we would have a trouble with Joker and his goons."

Pictures of Joker and his comrades came into view, replacing the graphs and numbers that was shown earlier in the screen.

"Due to Joker's unpredictability, Deathstroke's exceptional tactical mind, and incomplete reports on their members and whereabouts, it would be difficult to ascertain concrete plans to eliminate them. Add to the fact that the US military would not be included in the mission to hunt Joker down to reduce casualties and preserve manpower."

Ray Palmer, also known as The Atom, raised his left hand and Lelouch was quick to acknowledge him.

"Yes, Ray?"

"I think it is best if we split the Justice League into three groups to maintain balance amongst our forces and increase our firepower. One group would deal with Joker; the second would deal with the Black Knights and the third would stay here in command base to overlook things and guard the place."

Lelouch nodded in agreement at The Atom's proposal and started to work on the division.

"Raven, Beast Boy, Cyborg, all Green Lanterns and the rest of the Task Force X and the remaining US troops would stay behind to guard this place. Flash, Green Arrow, The Atom, Martian Manhunter, and Wonder Woman would engage the Black Knights and Britannian Army. Hawkman, Hawkgirl, Batman, Superman and I would gather intelligence on Britannia and the Black Knights as well as hunting down Joker and his goons."

Flash raised his hand to voice out his opinion, "I think it's best if you stayed here, Lelouch."

Lelouch stared at Flash as if he grew another head in his shoulder. The rest of the people inside the meeting also looked at him like the way Lelouch looked at Flash.

"I'm not saying that you'll jinx us but you're a skilled strategist, Lelouch." Flash continued. "It would be best if you're the one who would stay behind to overlook things."

Most of the people inside the meeting room nodded their heads in agreement with the exception of Lelouch himself. As reasonable as it may, he knew that being in the frontlines would guarantee everyone's safety. If the enemy found out that he stayed behind, the chances of them attacking their command base was high. He would not risk the lives of those powerless that resides in the command base, especially Nunnally's and Euphemia's.

"And I won't agree with you, Lelouch."

Lelouch looked at the source of the voice and saw Euphemia with great determination on her face. She was standing with her arms crossed and stubbornly shaking her head in disagreement with his plan.

"I'm not going to stay here, watching as my friends fight with their lives on the risk. I've had enough of that already and I won't allow it again."

"Euphemia, listen-" Lelouch tried to argue but Euphemia halted him before he could finish his statement.

"You listen, Lelouch. I've spent my life watching on the sidelines as one by one, the people I loved, fought for what they knew was right and failed in the process. I knew I have the power to help them back then but I was too scared to get caught up in between. That fear made me powerless."

As calmly as her voice was, there was no mistake that she was filled with determination to sway Lelouch's mind and she would do it no matter what the consequences. She has no doubt Lelouch would be angry with her but time would come when Lelouch would thank her for it.

"Now that I have a great power," she lifted her right fist to show her Green Lantern ring, "I won't let my friends risk their lives for nothing. I won't stay in the sidelines now that I can fight and win. I would help someone no matter what and you won't deny me that!"

"She's right, Lelouch." Martian Manhunter agreed with Euphemia. "Let her fight. It won't hurt if you allow her to join your cause. She has the power to help you; why would you deny her that?"

Lelouch wanted to punch someone as rage started to make its course on his blood. How can no one understand that he won't risk Euphemia life again? He lost her once, he won't allow it to happen again. He'll do anything to protect the people he loved and if it meant locking them up, he would definitely do it.

* * *

"How's the progress, Cyborg?" Batman asked as soon as he, Wonder Woman and Superman entered Cyborg's laboratory where the process of Jeremiah's mechanical body enhancement were taking place.

"He's prepped for the enhancement. We're just waiting for you guys to come."

"How are you, Mr. Gottwald?" Superman asked Jeremiah as he watched him from the other side of the small room, which was divided by a glass wall as a precaution.

"Just peachy." Jeremiah replied. "You must be Superman, am I right?"

Superman nodded and Jeremiah smiled softly in response.

"Thank you for saving my liege."

Superman smiled softly when he heard what Jeremiah has said. His dedication and loyalty to Lelouch was astounding and it reminds him of Alfred's loyalty to Batman.

"Gottwald," Batman interrupted. "The suit that will be be attached to you was crafted by Superman in the sun and has technology of both our worlds."

Jeremiah's eyes widened at Batman has said about the suit. He knew that Batman was not kidding when he told him that Superman crafted his suit in the sun.

"Your suit was also made of Kryptonian technology and would definitely make your suit technologically more advance than the Britannians. Use it wisely, if you will."

"Any questions before we start your enhancement?" Wonder Woman piped in.

Jeremiah hesitated for a few seconds before finally asking the question he wanted to ask of them.

"Will it hurt?"

"It depends on how much pain you could tolerate." Batman said before finally taking hold of the controller of the large, mechanical hands that would perform the enhancements operation on him.

Upon the first contact of the mechanical hands on his equally mechanical body, Jeremiah felt the cold rushing on his non-mechanical part of his body and made him feel nervous about the operation. He never remembered the first time he was enhanced due to the sleeping drugs Bartley and his team injected on him. He bet it was very painful and good thing Bartley injected him but this time around, he never received any sleeping drugs nor numbing drugs to minimize the pain he would feel.

' _This would really hurt… a lot.'_ Jeremiah thought bitterly.

And he was never wrong when the first piece of his mechanical body was separated from his flesh.

* * *

It was almost a day when Shirley last saw Lelouch and it made her worried. Despite Batman's assurance that Lelouch was alright and well, that did not stopped her from getting worried and it would continue unless she see to it for herself that he was okay.

That is the reason why she was currently searching alone for Lelouch despite Batman's heavy warnings of staying inside their room. He even made sure that someone would guard them (*cough* Raven and Beast Boy *cough) incase they decided to roam but their two guards has not yet came back from their self-proclaimed breaktime. It has been hours when they announced that they were stepping out to get some bite but she deduced that something has came up.

So, with their two guards absent, Shirley decided to search for Lelouch whilst C.C. decided to stay in their room and take a much needed nap.

' _Where is this place located anyway?'_ She asked as she studied some unknown equipment in front of her.

After looking at the bizarre equipment for a few minutes, Shirley went on her journey to find Lelouch; her mind still busy assessing the bizarre objects around her. She rounded a corner and found herself in front of a long corridor with a twin metal doors at the end of it.

' _What could be in the inside of it?'_

There was something inside of her that was urging her to approach the door and see what is inside of it but her mind was debating not to. In the end, she chose to follow what her instinct was telling her to and slowly approached the door.

' _Well… here goes nothing,'_

Her hand was on the door knob when the door suddenly opened. She looked up and felt her eyes widened when she came face to face with the late Princess Euphemia li Britannia.

"P-Princess Euphemia…?" Shirley stuttered.

She could not believe what she was seeing; the supposedly dead princess was standing right in front of her, looking very much alive and not dead. She was still the Euphemia she saw from the day she went to Ashford Academy.

However, no matter how much she still looks the same, she could never ignore the fact that she changed.

The once kind princess was now frowning down upon her; fists clenched as her teeth gritted in apparent anger.

' _Is this the face she wore when she killed all those Japanese in Special Administrative Zone?'_ She could not help but think.

"I-I'm sorry, Princess Euphemia! I-I'll…" She stuttered as she apologized but was unable to do so for she heard Lelouch shouting the princess' name.

"Euphie! We're still not finished-" He stopped when she saw Shirley.

"Lulu…?"

Shirley looked at him and back to Euphemia as she tried deduce the situation between them.

"What's happening here?"

There was an air of tension and awkwardness as Shirley looked at them in confusion and Euphemia glared at Lelouch in anger.

Anger because of what, she does not know.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Lelouch?" Euphemia broke the tension by speaking first. "You don't have to protect me now that I can fight! I can very much handle my own problems and I'm not asking for your help!"

Lelouch tried to reason, "Euphie, what I'm just saying is-"

"Bullshit, Lelouch!" Euphemia exclaimed in an unladylike manner, which surprised both Lelouch and Shirley. "I can do whatever I want and I'm not going to take any shits from you!"

Lelouch and Shirley both stayed silent after Euphemia's rant but Lelouch was the first one to break the silence around them.

"Oh, please tell me you're not spending way too much time with Guy," Lelouch simply said in response to Euphemia's rant.

Euphemia huffed in annoyance and turned on her heel.

"You're unbelievable, Lelouch."

With a shake of her head, she walk away.

"Don't worry,"

Shirley looked at the man who talked and noticed several unfamiliar things on him besides his face; his clothes, his muscular built, and the fact that he was floating on the air.

Now, that… was unexpected on Shirley's opinion.

"She's not spending any time with Guy; she's always with Kilowog, Jason, and Damian."

Lelouch scoffed, "As if that was better, Hal."

"And who's this beautiful lady?"

The guy named Hal happily approached Shirley and took her hand, kissing it. She blushed and snatched her hand away from him almost after his lips made its contact on her skin.

"What the fuck, Hal?!" Lelouch exclaimed angrily.

Hal laughed and said, "You're just jealous, Lelouch!"

Lelouch grunted and changed the subject, "What're you doing here anyway, Shirley?"

Shirley's blush deepened when Lelouch regarded her presence. She stammered upon answering his question, "I-I just-"

"Why are you outside, Shirley?"

Shirley saw Raven exiting the room with Beast Boy in tow.

"Batman strictly said that you're to stay in the lounge room with C.C. no matter what happens." She added.

"Well, I-"

Lelouch turned to Raven and said, "Knock it off, Raven. Just let her be."

Raven glared at Lelouch and decided to just walk away with Beast Boy following her.

"Anyways," Shirley said when Raven and Beast Boy were not in the hearing range, "why is Princess Euphemia alive? She died, right?"

Hal decided to answer the question instead of letting Lelouch answer it. He knew the reason why Euphemia is alive better than him anyway.

"Well, she died, yes… but we decided to resurrect her."

Shirley rose an eyebrow in confusion to what he said.

"Why?"

Hal awkwardly rubbed the back of his head and said, "We just wanted to give her a chance to live her life in our world since she is a good soul."

"You must have missed the moment when she killed those Japanese." Shirley curtly said and she failed to notice Lelouch wincing in the background.

Hal blinked in mild surprise at what she said.

"I've done a lot worse than her killing the Japanese, Miss Fenette."

Despite the small smile on his face, Shirley knew that he was not joking around. The look on his eyes was enough of an evidence that he was telling her the truth.

"Enough of this conversations already," Lelouch butted in and grabbed Shirley's hand.

"Wait, Lulu!" Shirley attempted to struggle but was unable to do so because of the tight grip of Lelouch's hand on her.

"Nice nickname, by the way!" Hal hollered as the pair continued to walked away from him.

After a minute of unsuccessful struggling, Shirley decided to just let him drag her off to somewhere.

"Where are we going, Lulu?" She asked.

Lelouch turned to her and smiled, which made her heart race a bit.

"You'll see."

* * *

 **Unknown Location**

 **21:43**

"What do you think about my costume, Deathstroke?" Joker asked and twirled around for Deathstroke to see.

Deathstroke grunted and said, "Disgusting, Joker,"

Joker's smile turned into sadness at what Deathstroke has said.

"You're mean, Deathstroke." Joker said before breaking into a large grin. "Say... don't you think we should heighten up our 'operation', hm?"

"If creating more chaos is what you mean… then no." Deathstroke said. "We are here for a mission and I intend to do it quietly just like Luthor wanted."

"But this world," Joker gestured around him, "likes chaos. Look around us, Deathstroke… there's chaos everywhere."

Deathstroke glared at him, "And I don't intend to add more chaos to it."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Deathstroke, these fools wage war upon silly reasons. They were fighting for world domination, which is mundane by the way, and they're killing their own kin. They want war and I can feel that they are loving it. It's coursing on their blood, Deathstroke!" Joker exclaimed further despite the glares that Deathstroke sent his way.

"They were born to wage war… and I intend to create more to appease them because that's what I live for."

Deathstroke stayed quiet as Joker laugh. He does not know what to respond to what he said. All he could think about is the madness that Joker wanted to inflict upon Lelouch's world and how mundane it is on his part.

"You listen, Deathstroke, as children and women cry. Listen to them as they beg for help as soldiers killed them! Surely you've done it too… killed them and be a deaf to their pleas, noh?"

"You say you wanted to do it quietly but I know…" Joker flicked Deathstroke's forehead with his pointer finger, "somewhere in your hard head, that you crave chaos… just like me."

They intensely stared at each before Joker withdrawed his gaze away from him and approaching the door. Before he exited, he glance back at Deathstroke and said,

"It'll be fun, Deathstroke, to see how tough and smart these fools are-how they will react to more chaos brought by yours truly."

Joker bowed his head dramatically and exited the room, leaving Deathstroke with a problem to solve.

* * *

Clayface quietly approached the room where Deathstroke was in after Joker exited. He heard all of what Joker has said and as much as liked the idea he presented to Deathstroke, he knew they need to prioritize their mission. If they failed to do their mission, he knew Luthor would make their life hell.

So, as to make it their mission quick and easy, Clayface knew that they have to neutralize Joker and his mad ideas.

"Deathstroke," he greeted upon entering the room.

Deathstroke grunted as a reply and never said any word after that.

"I heard Joker's plans." Clayface stated simply.

Deathstroke narrowed his eyes at him and said, "I know what you're thinking; you support his idea, aren't you?"

"Au contraire, actually," Deathstroke raised an eyebrow in confusion. He knew Clayface wants to shake things up in the world they were in and he was confused why he was not taking Joker's idea for support.

"We are here for a reason… and if we got what we came here for without creating much more mess here, I'm sure Luthor would give us much more that what we could get here."

"He promised you our world, am I correct?"

Clayface nodded.

"What do the others think?"

Clayface did not beat around the bush and answered Deathstroke's question truthfully. "They think we should take care of Joker. Neutralize him so he cannot interfere with our plans."

Deathstroke sighed heavily. As much as he want to eliminate Joker's existence, he knew it would be better if he is on their side against the Lelouch and the Justice League. Joker was the few of the villains he knew that could actually think of a better plan despite the madness of it.

"Negative, Clayface. He's going to be useful to us in the future."

"Then we should think of another plan to neutralize him without killing him."

* * *

Unbeknownst to Deathstroke and Clayface, Joker lingered long enough to eavesdrop on their conversation. Instead of being angry about their plan to eradicate him, it brought such happiness to him to see that he was the only one who could bring manipulate them.

' _Don't take me for a fool, Deathstroke. I may be a mad man but I'm not crazy enough to trust you.'_

His plan was simple: whilst they were busy thinking of ways to neutralize him, Joker would talk to others to help him with his plan. Surely they would fall for it for he knew that without Deathstroke's reasonable explanations, the rest of their team would easily join him without thinking of any repercussions except for their lust for creating chaos.

' _That Lelouch brat would have to wait for me to get him. 'Tis plan is much more enjoyable than getting him to baldy's hands!'_

Joker's thoughts, then, drifted back to the phone conversation with Schneizel's boy maid (in Joker's words).

There forces would be enough to bring about a hell of problems and chaos masked in an attempt to help. That blondie prince, Schnitzel or something, would bow down to him sooner and his men would follow through. Then, after making him bow down, he would use Schnitzel's wits with his own to defeat the Justice League and launch more chaos on the world.

Nothing and no one, even Deathstroke and Baldy, would stop him from achieving it.

' _No one…'_

* * *

 **A/N:** So sorry for the late update guys. Turns out our school year would start not August but would still stay in June and that sucks bigtime. I have many plans on our four-month vacation and I have to cancel it in favor of my schooling.

Anyways, a big shout out to grievousrommel and Saint Sita for getting the correct answers in the last chapters! You guys rock!

Additionally, whoever reviews in the latest chapter would receive their own shout out in the next update so leave your reviews and let me know what you think.

Cheers! :)


	19. Turn 18: Joker's Overture no 2

Turn 18: Joker's Overture no. 2

* * *

 **Command Base**

 **August 9, 2017**

 **18:05**

"Boss, we got an intel."

Flag stopped talking to Lieutenant Birchwood and quickly went to the soldier who reported to him.

"What is it?"

The soldier types in his computer and showed a footage of Schneizel and Kanon leaving the Government Bureau. Them leaving was not alarming - it is the fact that they left the Government Bureau with no men to accompany them was the one that raised their suspicions.

"Where are they going?"

The soldier brought another footage for Flag to see.

"There was someone who called Kanon's phone yesterday. We were unable to hear the conversation because the surveillance cameras inside the Bureau were not audio supported."

"Were you able to trace the call?" Flag asked as he continued to watch the footage.

The soldier shook his head and verbally answered, "No, sir."

Birchwood, who was silent throughout the whole ordeal, spoke.

"It seems that the caller knew that someone might track him and made a precaution."

"How'd you know, Birchwood?" Flag asked.

Birchwood smirked and answered, "I am a soldier, remember?"

Flag never bothered to reply to Birchwood as he continued to study the footage in front of him. He actually has a good idea as to who was the caller and he knew that it was one of Joker's men or maybe Joker himself.

"Do you think it has something to do with Schneizel and Kanon leaving Bureau?" Birchwood asked out loud.

Flag hummed in thought and replied, "It certainly has, Birchwood."

"So… what should we do?"

Flag step back from the computer and walk away but not before without saying about his plan.

"We'll stalk them."

* * *

 **Shinjuku Ghetto**

 **10:32**

"Are you sure that this Joker can be trusted, Kanon?"

Kanon gulped loudly showing his nervousness to the blonde prince.

"I don't know, Your Highness… but he has stated that he knew how to defeat our enemies."

Schneizel raised his left brow in question. "And that is enough reason for you to trust him?"

"No, Your Highness,"

Schneizel was about to open his mouth to rebut but Kanon beat him to it and continued.

"But we need to take a risk in trusting him. We are outmatched and weak as of right now. We need more help that we can get."

Schneizel pursed his lips in thought. As much as hated it, he knew that he was right. They needed all help they could get to rise and defeat Lelouch and his gang of ridiculously-superpowered friends.

"Let's just that we would never regret this decision in the future."

"Oh, I assure you,"

They turned towards the source of the voice and saw a man exiting from a ruined building. He was alone but that did not change the fact that he was still a danger to the both of them.

"You'll not going to reject your decision."

Schneizel clenched his fists in nervousness - a habit he has attained ever since he was a child - and thankfully, it has escaped their companion's attention.

' _There's something not right about him… and that definitely was not from his appearance but from the way he looked at us.'_ Schneizel thought.

He bit the inner side of his cheek to remind himself that he has to remain in control or else…

"You must be The Joker."

It came out as a statement instead of question - a mistake Schneizel consciously committed.

"Yes, the one and the only Joker!" He gave heavy emphasis on his name as he bowed dramatically in front of them. On his ridiculously white face was a large shit-eating grin that adds to Schneizel's nervousness.

"Let's just go to the business, Joker. Shall we?" Kanon butted in.

The Joker looked at Kanon with amusement twinkling in his eyes and smirked.

"Oh, Kanon, you haven't changed! Always the one who's up for business and never beating around the bush."

This time, Schneizel was the one to answer him, "We came for business, Mr. Joker… and we intend not to waste our time in silly and mundane things."

The Joker's grin never dropped after Schneizel's serious but slightly harsh statement.

"Listen here, blondie-prince," Schneizel raised an eyebrow at the nickname Joker has given him, "I am your only best shot at defeating the Justice League. If you feel that I'm just only wasting your time, then, I would gladly take my leave."

The Joker turned and started to walk away from Schneizel and Kanon.

When the Joker started walking away, Schneizel felt right then and there that he was wasting an opportunity seeing as they have no other option. As much as he detested having to work with strangers, he knew that the Joker was correct - he was their only best shot.

"Wait!" Schneizel shouted.

The Joker stopped walking but did not turned around to talk to them. If he did, the two would see the large grin plastered on his face and the twinkle in his eyes.

"We accept your help."

The Joker did not respond for a few seconds which made them confuse. Kanon was about to walk to him when he turned around and approached the startled Schneizel.

"Glad you could make a good decision."

Schneizel took offense on Joker's words and was about to retort but Joker put his index finger on his lips.

"Now, how about we discuss what I would get out of this team-up."

Kanon's eyebrow scrunched in confusion when he heard what Joker has said. He was the one who insisted to become allies and he has the nerve to boss them around?

"With all due respect, Mr. Joker," Schneizel lowered Joker's hand that was on his lips. "You are the one who insisted that we team-up and we reluctantly agreed. You got what you wanted: a team-up… but that does not give you a permission and guarantee that you would get something out of our partnership in return."

"And it is not also guaranteed that we would win this war." Kanon added.

"With all due respect… not that I have respect for you or anything," Joker dusted his fancy clothes as he talk to the two, "I'm very capable of defeating those bunch of buffoons with just careful and smart planning. In fact, I've done it so many times!"

Joker spread his arms to emphasize his point.

"And I've always come out triumphant."

"Oh?" A quirk of Schneizel's eyebrow showed his disbelief. "How so?"

Joker sat on a large rock and propped his chin on the top of his knee. His gaze has not left to the two.

"You see… their weakness was actually simple: Superman and Lelouch weakness was in the form of a green, glowing rock that I happened to have,"

He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a small, glowing rock.

"What is… that?" Kanon whispered as he became enthralled by the object.

"Oh, this?" Joker enclosed his fist on the rock. "This is called Kryptonite. Pretty little thing, huh?"

Schneizel and Kanon nodded absentmindedly. Both of them were already thinking of ways to weaponize the enigmatic Kryptonite.

"Too bad you can't have this." Joker put the Kryptonite back to his pocket.

"Why not?" The disappointment was apparent on Kanon's voice.

"All in due time, my friend. All in due time…" Joker smirked as their faces dropped in disappointment.

"Anyways," Joker went back to their last topic, "As I was saying, Kryptonite would be our primary weapon but… that doesn't mean it would work on the other metahumans."

"Meta… humans?"

Joker cackled loudly and rubbed the back of his head as if he was showing his embarrassment.

"I forgot to tell about the metahumans. They are basically what you call superpowered humans."

Joker stood and approached the two with an aura of confidence and menace surrounding his very self.

"Don't be afraid of them," he leaned and whispered on Schneizel's ear, "I'm going to take care of them for you."

He leaned back and grinned mischievously at Schneizel despite the air of seriousness around them.

"Of course, you're going to do something for me."

"And what is it?" Kanon asked.

Joker's grin widened and it made the two terrified of him.

"You're going to surrender Lelouch vi Britannia to me."

* * *

 **Command Base**

" _Sir, our spy reconnaissance has been shot down. We couldn't get any information on their meeting."_

"Damn it," Birchwood hissed under his breath as he watched the footage of their spy reconnaissance getting shot down by Joker. The last image he saw before it blacked out was Joker laughing as he lowered the rocket launcher he was holding.

"Abort the mission, Captain Smith."

" _Roger that, over and out."_

Birchwood massaged his temple as stress started to wear him out. No matter how many metahumans were on their side, it would still end up in futile if they didn't get any vital information that could help them defeat Joker and the Britannians. If their problems continued to persist, it would only take a matter of time until they would get defeated even with the Justice League's aid.

"Birchwood?"

Birchwood saluted when Lelouch entered the command center, the soldiers around them following suit. Behind Lelouch was Green Lantern John Stewart; the only Green Lantern without a mask adorning his face.

"John Stewart would govern the spy activities in future. You, on the other hand, would focus on the preemptive measures of the base's security."

"Oh, thank goodness!" Birchwood can't help but be thankful of his reassignment. "This isn't really my field and I really don't know why Waller placed me here."

"I know… that's why I'm placing you back to the security." Lelouch said as he walked to the computer that shows a looped footage of Joker, roaming on the streets of Shinjuku minutes before he shot down the reconnaissance drone.

"Have you got any information, Birchwood?"

Birchwood can't help but snort at Lelouch, knowing full well that he clearly heard their conversation earlier.

"We both know the answer to that, Lelouch."

All of them went back to as Lelouch watched the footage on the computer. He studied every move that Joker made and every interaction he had on some individuals for something they could use against him. Sure, he knew the purpose of his meeting with Schneizel but he has to make sure it is really his agenda before carefully mapping out the Justice League's next move.

"It would be a hindrance to our plan if we don't find out the purpose of their mee-"

Lelouch interrupted Birchwood, "An alliance…"

"What?" Birchwood said, utterly confused by what Lelouch has said.

Lelouch tore his gaze away from the footage to look at the confused Lieutenant. "Joker would propose an alliance with Schneizel."

"How sure are you and how did you found out?"

"It doesn't take a genius to know it, Birchwood," Lelouch cleared his throat and started to explain his theory.

"Since Joker has only limited men under his wings, he would need to recruit more to carry out any mission they would ever need. What better plan than to having an alliance with a prince that holds many soldiers?"

Birchwood arch a brow, "That does make sense."

"Perhaps, the most troubling thing with it is not about the alliance… but about the jobs of the other villains. What would they do? What would they need?"

John, who was silent all throughout the time he spent with them, chose to answer his question.

"There must be something going on with them."

Lelouch looked at him in confusion, "What would that might be?"

"It's Joker we're talking about, Lelouch. The other villains might've disagreed with his plans and decided to isolate him. Hence, the alliance with the Britannians."

"You've raised a good point, John… but that would mean we would reorganized the teams to make sure all enemies are covered." Lelouch said.

John crossed his arms against his chest as he stared at the large monitor in front of the command center. It shows the data and statistics that they have covered from the beginning of their mission on Lelouch's world. All datas - from the calculated damage they have caused in the battle to the number of casualties their men have received - all of it were shown in very detailed on the monitor.

"Reduce the men here on the base, Lelouch." John said out of the blue which caught Lelouch off guard.

"Excuse me… what?"

John uncrossed his arms and pointed on the monitor, "Almost fifty percent of US troops would stay behind to defend this base," he, then, faced Lelouch, "which, is definitely unnecessary since all Green Lantern would stay behind to defend this base."

"It's completely necessary since our weaponries, informations, and machineries are completely important for us and any day, Joker and even the Britannians, could barge in on here and steal it from us. We couldn't risk it, John." Lelouch argued back. He refused to give in to John's plan.

"Lelouch, listen-"

A deafening alarm sounded throughout the base, alerting everyone out of their works. The personnel inside the command center hastily gathered information to find out what has caused the alarm.

"We'll talk about this later on the meeting." Lelouch bid John a goodbye before heading to a nearest personnel for an update.

"What is it?"

"Sir, there's an uprising happening near Hiroshima."

The soldier brought a live footage from the area and showed it to the distraught Lelouch.

"Seems like the Black Knights were trying to loot a Britannian base in that area."

Lelouch squinted his eyes, "Perhaps it is. They've lost many knightmare frames from the last battle."

John glanced at the footage and said, "What're your plans?"

"Let's confirm first from Katana. Shall we?"

* * *

"But that's what Lulu said… and I believe it!" Shirley exclaimed exasperatedly, which caused more laughter coming from person she was talking to.

"Really? Lulu?" Beast Boy wiped the tears from his eyes as he tried to calm down from laughing. "What kind of a nickname is that?"

Beast Boy's loud guffaws once again bombarded Shirley's ears as she tried to contain her annoyance. If Beast Boy's laugh would continue further, she would (for sure) suffer from deafness.

"Why can't you stop laughing for just a second?!" Shirley exclaimed but it only made Beast Boy laugh further.

She glanced tiredly at C.C. and Raven in hopes of getting help from either of them but neither was paying attention to their situation for they were both busy doing their stuff. Raven was busy reading a book and C.C. was busy eating a pizza.

"Girl, I tell ya," Beast Boy snorted, "he's lyin' to ya."

"How can you be so sure?" Shirley pouted as she tried to retrieve information from Beast Boy.

"I know both of them personally for a long time." He lazily drawled before sipping on his milk tea. "And I know, for sure, that there's somethin' goin' on between 'em."

Beast Boy can't help but laugh when he saw Shirley's face scrunching in anger and dismay because of the lies he told her. Sure it was rude to play pranks on the seemingly innocent girl but he's bored and he needs to confirm something about her, hence, the prank.

"Would you two shut up?" Raven calmly told the two despite the annoyance on her face. "I'm trying to read here!"

"And I'm trying to eat here!" C.C. seconded, which earned her a glare from Shirley and Raven.

"If you two would just continue bickering, then I suggest you get out of this room immediately," she focused her attention to the flustered Shirley, "and don't believe everything Beast Boy says, Shirley. Harley would be the last woman Lelouch would ever have a relationship with."

"Aww, come in! You ruined my fun, Rae!" Beast Boy pouted but Raven ignored him.

* * *

"Don't think I wouldn't find out about your little excursions last night, Euphie." Hal panted as he dodged a will-powered bullet that was coming at him. He retaliated by projecting a big boulder and hurling it towards Euphemia, which she also easily dodged.

"And? What do you want me to do about your little information?" She sarcastically replied, grunting a little as she lightly twisted her right foot upon landing on the floor.

Hal snickered, "Nothin'. Just wanna see what your reaction would be."

"You wouldn't happen to tell it to Lelouch or to Batman, eh?" She said and continued, "Because if you do, I wouldn't care a little bit."

"If you wouldn't care a little bit," he constructed a large sword after his attack was unsuccessful, "then why the hell are you curious if I would ever tell them?"

Will-powered swords clashed as they continued training despite the alarm they have heard earlier. They knew something has happened and they wanted to help but Lelouch told them to stay and continue their training. They were disappointed (or in Euphemia's case, angry) but decided to obey his command despite their adamant disapproval to Lelouch's group reassignment. However, they knew better not to question him since he was the only one who knew the current situation they were in.

"Because I don't want to disappoint all of you!"

She slashed her sword on Hal's chest and saw his Green Lantern uniform rip open.

Hal ignored the rip on his uniform and grabbed her sword.

"News flash, Euphie," He constructed a pair of gloves and made it punch Euphemia on her face. "You just made us disappointed when you broke your promise not to go out!"

Hal grunted when Euphemia landed a punch on his gut. He cough out blood before he crumbled on the floor, clutching his stomach.

"I-I'm sorry, Hal," Euphemia tried to help him but he dismissed her help.

"No, it's okay." He slowly got up, wincing as the pain intensified. "You did good."

Hal blanched when he saw Euphemia getting sad. It was probably a bad idea to bring up what took place just last night.

"Hey," he tried to console her, "c'mon, don't be sad, Euphie."

"I know you're all disappointed…"

Tears started to fall from her eyes as she explained her side to Hal.

"I… don't know what to do anymore. From the moment I came back here, all things just got messed up." Euphemia rubbed her sleeves onto her wet eyes. "Then I started disobeying you guys and that made things messier."

It was rare for Hal to see women cry but when he did, he don't know what to do and say to make stop crying. Either way, he still try to cheer them up.

"Hey, we're not mad at you, Euphie. We're not disappointed either. I just want you to get your head on our practice that's why I brought that up."

Euphemia just stared at Hal's smiling face dumbfoundedly and unable to process any apologizes she could say to him.

"Look, can we just forget what happened yesterday night?"

Euphemia stayed quiet, still miserable about what has transpired earlier. She knew everyone would eventually forget about it in a short period of time but she, herself, would not complete forget about it.

"Wha-" she inhaled deeply, "what does Batman said about it?"

Hal blinked twice and confusion but replied nonetheless, "Nothing. He said nothing."

* * *

 **Justice League Hall**

 **August 9, 2017**

 **5 Hours before Schneizel meets Joker**

"Gorilla Grodd's recent attack has resulted in tremendous destruction among lives of the people of Keystone City. Repairs are in progress but we cannot assure that we can bring back the lives that were lost caused by the attack." Red Tornado reported.

Animal Man's grim face showed his displeasure on Gorilla Grodd's attack but did not opened his mouth to comment on it.

"Wally's already helping to restore some parts of the city but it would probably take time before the city could be operational." Black Canary continued. She saw Animal Man's displeasure but did not commented on it for she knew it would anger him.

"Have you found out why he rampaged on the city?" Animal Man asked.

Black Canary shook her head and said, "Unfortunately, no."

"Then what about his recent engagements? Have you found out anything from them?"

"Still nothing." Red Tornado replied with conviction.

Animal Man hummed under his breath, coming to conclusion that they, indeed, would not get anything that caused Gorilla Grodd's sudden rampage on the city.

Then again, there's no such thing as coincidence when it comes to Gorilla Grodd.

They first concluded that it maybe involved with the Justice League's recent dimensional travel since it just happened hours after they left. Though their conclusion might be plausible, it was still not safe to just conclude since lives were at stake.

"Wally's rounding up Gorilla Grodd's supporters to prevent any further move coming from him. It maybe a good plan to reduce any upcoming attacks from our enemies." Black Canary reported.

Red Tornado nodded in agreement to Black Canary's report. A good move, indeed, but still ineffective if they could not contain them properly.

"Are we going to tell this to Batman and the rest?" Black Canary asked the question that plagues their mind the very moment they received the news of Gorilla Grodd's attack.

Animal Man raised an eyebrow at her question, "It's up to Aquaman to decide about it. He's the acting officer since the core members are not present."

"Where is he anyway? Does he know about this?" Red Tornado queried.

"He's conducting a short visit to Atlantis to make sure everything's alright there. Booster Gold already notified him about the attack." Animal Man replied. His eyebrows scrunched as he thought about the fact that they let their guard down when Aquaman wasn't around to govern them.

Aquaman specifically told them to be on their guard since almost all major Justice League members are absent and they did. Perhaps, they were not just prepared enough for the future onslaughts of their enemies. That was why in their future attack, they would make sure that they would be immediately around to take care of the situation.

" _Incoming Transmission from Wally West."_

Black Canary accepted the transmission from Wally and proceeded to question him of his agenda.

"'Sup, Wally?" She greeted as soon as she got a connection with Wally. "Anything new?"

The crackle in the background hints that he was running as fast as the speed of light.

" _Ya' bet'cha, Black Canary!"_

"So what is it?"

Another crackle sounded on the connection before Wally answered.

" _Just gimme ten seconds before I explain it to you. I need to check something out before I go there."_

Black Canary nodded even though Wally could not see them.

Animal Man offered him an affirmative, "Go on, Wally. Get back to us when you complete your errands."

" _Affirmative, Animal Man. Over and out."_

* * *

 **Somewhere in Central City…**

Wally halted in front of an abandoned building located near the downtown of the Central City. He gave it a quick survey before heading inside to ensure that the place is safe and has no suspicious things around.

Going to the second floor of the decrepit building was an easy task but doing it silently was not.

He looked around the silent room suspiciously and made sure to be ready if he would be attacked. When nothing happened for a full few minutes, he straightened up and called out.

"Captain Cold!" He shouted. "I know you're there!"

A few minutes passed before Captain Cold emerged from the darkness. Wally looked at him in shock when he saw Captain Cold's bleeding body and bruised face.

"W-what happened to you?" Wally whispered softly as he continued to stare at his archnemesis.

Captain Cold glanced at him weakly and tried to walk towards him but his knees wobbled in weakness, threatening to give out if any further pressure would be applied.

Seeing Captain Cold's struggle, Wally flashed to his side and helped him before he collapse on the hard floor.

"What happened to you?" Wally repeated his question earlier with such conviction.

"Joker happened." Captain Cold grunted as spasms of pain wrecked his body caused by the stab wounds he acquired.

Wally raised his eyebrow in question but never said anything to make way for Captain Cold's story.

"He went to me the day before yesterday and told me that I should join him for something."

"What did you do?" Wally asked.

Captain Cold looked at him as if he grew another head and said, "Of course I declined, dumbass. It's Joker we're talking about and he's always up to something evil."

"Oh, so that's how you got that scars."

It was meant as a question but it came out as a statement.

"Well, what do you want from me?"

Captain Cold tightened his fists to the point that his knuckles became white, and he gritted his teeth in anger.

"I want a revenge… and I know the Justice League's the ones who could help me get my revenge."

Wally narrowed his eyes and was quick to reprimand the wounded man.

"We don't do revenge, Snart." He simply said but the conviction was apparent on his voice. "We do justice, and not revenge."

"There's no difference in justice and revenge, Flash. It's all the same." Captain Cold hissed. "You fight your enemies and the justice is served. You commit revenge to the ones who wronged you and it is justice for you. You sent a criminal to prison and it is justice. It's all the same - just with different name."

"But we do it for a reason, Snart." Wally countered.

"And so do we."

Wally inhaled deeply when he realized that he could not convince Captain Cold to not have his revenge on the Joker. He was persistent, which amused Wally, but he knew he should consider the League's approval first before he could make a decision.

"Come on," he said to Captain Cold, "If you really want your revenge, then come with me. We'll talk about this with the others."

* * *

 **Government Bureau**

 **19:30**

"Sir Kururugi?" Prince Schneizel beckoned Suzaku to come to him. "May I speak with you for a moment?"

Suzaku followed the second prince to his personal office and locked the door upon entering inside.

"What is it, Your Highness?" He asked after seating comfortably in front of Schneizel.

Schneizel leaned closer and started to talk.

"We may have found something that would give us a chance to win against Lelouch and his superpowered friends."

Suzaku tilted his head in confusion. "How, Your Highness?"

"Someone came up to us and offered us a hand against Lelouch. He said he knew how to defeat them and he has already defeated them several times."

"Are you sure it's true? That person might be a con."

Schneizel gently nodded his head in answer.

"You'll meet him later. Right now, he is with Kanon and they are rounding up men for a mission somewhere in Hiroshima."

Suzaku tilted his head in confusion. He was not informed that they will be having a mission in following weeks. They were still suffering the after effects of war and has to lay-low to strengthen their units.

"We're having a mission?"

* * *

"Now ya'll listen to me, folks!" Joker announced in front of hundreds of soldiers in the Government Bureau's hangar. He ignored the snickers and laughters coming from most of the soldiers, which irritated him.

"You're going to work for me now-"

A nameless soldier made a mistake of interrupting his speech.

"What did you say?" He burst into laughter. "We're going to work for a dumb clown? You're a good in jokes!"

All of them laughed when he fucker finished his sentence. Joker took a glance at Kanon and saw that he was also chuckling like all the others.

' _Ooh, you've made a terrible mistake young man!'_ He grimly thought.

"You must have thought this was a children's party, you dumb fu-"

Blood splattered on the faces of some soldiers who happens to be beside the bully soldier. They stared at the corpse of their comrade as blood continued to ooze out of his gunshot wound on his head.

"What…?"

They immediately went to find the killer and shock went inside their system when they saw the Joker holding a gun and pointed towards the corpse of their comrade.

"What have you done?!" The captain of the soldiers bursted out in anger.

Joker turned to him with a smirk on his face and proceeded to empty the magazine on the unfortunate captain.

"HAHAHAHA!" He cackled as the bullets hit the body of the already dead captain.

When the gun emitted a clicking sound signaling that the magazine is already empty, Joker threw it on the head of an unfortunate soldier and ignored his cries of pain.

"Tsk, pussy." He muttered.

Kanon helplessly stared at the mess the Joker has created and took a glance on the psychopath himself. He was sporting a big smile, as if what he did earlier does not bother him.

"Soooo, do I have all of your attentions?"

No one answered and Joker took that as yes.

"Now, where were we?"

* * *

 *****End of Arc II*****

* * *

 **A/N:** And there you have it! The last chapter of Arc II!

So sorry if I never posted any updates for the past few weeks, been busy with studying, exams, and life and I have to prioritize it. School life was the most tiring, especially our Foreign Language class where we have to study the Japanese language. I've been happy at first but now I completely regretted being happy. It was so hard to learn Japanese for Pete's sake!

Anyways, go read the tie-in of this story, The Superiors and the Inferiors Secret Files. I have already posted two updates and I might post again in Thursday or Friday. Leave your reviews when you finished reading! :)

SHOUT OUT TO Saint Sita and Angelus FOR REVIEWING!

What are your thoughts about the recent Justice League trailer and the Wonder Woman movie? Leave your answers in the review!

Cheers! :)


	20. Turn 19: The Conflict at Hiroshima pt 1

Arc III, Turn 19: The Conflict at Hiroshima part 1

* * *

 **Hiroshima, Area 11**

 **Britannian Satellite Camp**

 **August 10, 2017**

"Kallen!"

Kallen whipped her head towards the direction of the voice and saw Ohgi running towards her. She quickly put down the boxes she was carrying and met him half-way.

"Ohgi? What's wrong?"

Ohgi wiped his sweat from running and calmed down his breath before telling Kallen the news he got from Xing-ke.

"It's like… the Britannians have finally caught wind of our presence here."

Kallen furrowed her brows in confusion.

"But we're on armistice with them!" She exclaimed when she saw the truthfulness behind Ohgi's words. "They can't go and attack us!"

"But we basically nullified the armistice by coming here and raid their facility!" He hissed.

Kallen ignored Ohgi's last statement and stomped towards their temporary headquarters. She has to find out what was really happening outside them before she could think of anything to plan.

She saw Chiba, Tohdoh, Xing-ke, and Rakshata there, already discussing the the plans for their defense.

"I knew we should've never come to this place." Tamaki said from behind her.

Kallen, along with the four others, looked at Tamaki as if he grew another head on his shoulder.

"I mean, we're on the armistice with them, for fuck's sake! It would be best if should just lay-low and bid our time before we attack."

Chiba stood from her seat and started to lash out at Tamaki. "We have to do this, Tamaki, or else… they'll attack us first. We've lost greatly at the previous war and we can't afford to lose greatly again!"

"Of course we'll lose the war again! We've betrayed Zero, the one who gave us many victories!" Tamaki argued back despite the glares he received from the others, excluding Kallen. He could feel the sweat started to break out on his skin as he continued to argue against one of the core member of the Black Knights. "Damn it! If we just haven't betrayed him-"

"Then we'll continue to be his pawns on his fucking chess game, Tamaki! Get that on your air-filled brain!" Chiba hissed at him. She almost lunged at Tamaki to punch his gut but Tohdoh restrained her from doing so.

"Enough of this!" Tohdoh shouted, catching the both of them off-guard. "Now's not the time to argue. We still have more problems and we need to solve that first!"

Tamaki let out a loud grunt and gave them one last glare before stomping out of the tent, heading towards who knows where.

"Damn it!" Xing-ke sat on his seat and started to massage his aching forehead. After several days of no sleep, he was starting to get the feeling that it was starting to worsen his health.

"He's…" They all heard Kallen whisper. "He's right… you know?"

Rakshata, who was quiet on the previous ordeal, spoke.

"Hm? And why do you say so?"

She took a deep breath from her pipe and waited for her reply. It was quite amusing for her to see the Black Knights create such a big fuss on the ex-prince who literally have nothing now that they defected against him. Such trouble would give her a headache if they continued troubling themselves with mundane things particularly if it has an easy solution.

' _Just eliminate the guy, you ungrateful bastards!'_

"I feel like we are not Black Knights without Zero. I mean, he's the one who lead us in victories," Kallen ignored the glares her comrades threw at her, "and made us realize that we have the right and power to oppose the corrupt system of Britannia. We owe it to him, all of the things that we have."

"You're wrong, Kallen." Tohdoh disagreed. "We do not owe him anything. We achieved what we have now through our combined efforts and we can't afford to lose it just because of that man who used us as his pawns!"

All of them were shocked when Tohdoh raised his voice and slammed his fist on the table. It was rare of him to lose his temper and if he did so, it would mean that he's on the serious note.

Kallen looked at her comrades with regret and sadness ebbing her emotions. Regret because she did not managed to properly defend Zero against the accusations they threw at him despite its authenticity and sadness because they became ungrateful to the things that Zero has done for them.

Kallen shook her head in defeat and uttered, "I honestly don't know why we came to this point."

She hastily left the tent, leaving her comrades to finish their planning.

* * *

 **Avalon**

 **250 miles away from Hiroshima**

"Prince Schneizel, we can't afford to continue this operation just to save some knightmare frames."

One of political advisers of Schneizel pleaded. It was against their decisions to risk losing much more resources for a mission that was guaranteed as a failure on both sides. The fact that they still haven't got a word from the emperor made it even more problematic for them.

"We have to let the emperor know first the situation at our hand before we take an action!"

Schneizel turned his cold eyes on his adviser, which took the adviser off-guard.

"Well, have you got any response from the emperor? Any news on what he decided on our course of action?"

The adviser attempted to speak but Schneizel cut him off before he could start.

"If you haven't then, we'll proceeded with the operation, whether you like it or not."

"But our resour-"

"We'll cope and we'll prosper in the future. It's a small risk to take if we want the future in our favor."

The adviser lowered his head and nodded slowly. "If that's what His Highness wants, then we'll proceed."

Schneizel smirked and said, "Good."

Without paying any more attention to his adviser, he left the control room in favor of finding Kanon.

* * *

Suzaku watched the adviser as he walked away from the second prince and saw the anger slowly showing on the face of the said adviser. He understand why he was angry for he also did not understand why Prince Schneizel wanted to conduct a defense operation on Hiroshima. It doesn't matter if they would lost a couple of downgrade knightmare frames so long as they would not exhaust their remaining resources and weaponries.

"Hey! Who are-"

A commotion preceded by a loud bang echoed inside the control room of the Avalon. All the staff ceased their activities as shock and fear registered in their consciousness. They were all frozen in shock as a man dressed as a clown sauntered inside the room, holding the gun in his left hand and dragging the corpse of one of Schneizel's adviser in his right hand. He was grinning maniacally, as if what he did does not bothered him at all.

"Now… getting all angry with your superior is not a good thing."

The man turned to Suzaku who was frozen in shock upon seeing the culprit of the commotion.

"Suzy! Long time no see, my suicidal friend!"

He approached Suzaku and gave him a hug one a friend would give. Suzaku knew the gesture would definitely leave an impression to the staff that they were friends and he knew their opinion of him would definitely gone to worst.

"Would you please stop hugging me?" Suzaku muttered under his breath. "Joker…"

Joker released him and stared at his face. He was searching for something, something useful, and Suzaku feared he would hold it against him.

"Don't be like that, Suzy, we're friends, aren't we?"

Suzaku narrowed his eyes at Joker and asked the question that was bugging him as soon as he saw his presence.

"Why are you here?"

Joker tilted his head, "I thought Prince Blondie told you about me?"

As if on cue, Schneizel and Kanon entered the control room and immediately saw the ruckus The Joker has done.

"Why did you kill my adviser?" Schneizel inquired. No hint of anger was on his voice rather it was curiosity that was on it.

"Perhaps, you should teach your subordinates not to get angry with you if they don't favor your decision, hm?"

"Then, how can I teach him respect if he's now dead?"

There was humour on Schneizel's voice despite the seriousness on his face. The way Joker deals with problems were not unusual to him and he hoped that it would continue that way. If it so, then, he would encounter no problem in eliminating him in the future. Just a simple trap would be enough to capture Joker before he could cause anymore hindrance to Schneizel and his plans.

"I'm teaching them a lesson, my friend. He's an example, if you will."

"Are those two, dead soldiers included in your example?" Kanon took over.

"Why, yes! They are!" The Joker exclaimed. "They are, after all, insolent fools."

"Anyhow…" Joker decided to get to the topic he wanted to discuss with Schneizel. "I believe the Justice brats were already making their move. I would not be surprised if they've managed to scout the area before we can land."

"But how was that possible? We're on the move before them! Sending out a spy from their place to scout the area would definitely take an hour or two."

"It's not about how early we attack or how far they are, Maldini. So long as Superman on their side, we would definitely be late." The Joker replied.

"We've already done scouting and no signs of Superman nor his friends were on the area. No sonic booms were heard, no green lights, no anything."

"You should know, my friend, Superman is not the only one who have speed on their league."

Kanon asked, "What do you mean?"

"It was said that The Flash was the fastest man alive. Faster than the speed of light."

Schneizel smirked at Joker, "And you expect me to believe that."

Joker remained unfazed towards Schneizel's doubtfulness on his capabilities. It would seem that he's not willing to risk his everything to win the war and would usually indulge himself with winning small fights. In actuality, Joker find it annoying but he would use that weakness against him in the future. If he just played the cards very well, he could avoid any hindrance and not expose Schneizel's weakness on the enemy.

"Trust me on this one, _Your Highness_."

Despite he addressed the blonde prince with respect, Suzaku can still hear the mock underlying his words. It was very obvious that Joker has different agenda on why he teamed up with them. He just did not know if it would benefit them or worse, destroy them.

"Now, he's what we're going to do…"

* * *

 **Britannian Satellite Camp**

"I'm here." Flash whispered on his communicator as he quietly observed the actions of the Black Knights from his hiding place. They were busy transferring loads of equipment from the base to their trucks and oblivious to the fact that someone already infiltrated them.

" _Good. Wait for my signal."_ Lelouch replied. " _We're approximately 5 minutes away from your location. Don't act without any back-ups, you understand?"_

Flash murmured, "Loud and clear, Lelouch."

After talking with Lelouch, Flash continued to observe the Black Knights, waiting for anything suspicious to show up that would warrant his attention. It might seem that the whole operation was simply just to loot the satellite camp for remaining knightmare frames and nothing more than that. It surprised Flash that they decided to do the looting now that they were under cease fire with Britannia and even more so, they were still reeling from the loss they acquired during the war. Any actions from them would be a tantamount risk on their side.

"Pst!" A low voice caught Flash's attention away from spying the Black Knights. He looked around but failed to see anyone from around him.

"Hey, Flash!"

He looked below him and saw The Atom on his small form.

"What's up?"

Flash scooped him from the ground with his right hand and perched him on the top of a boulder on his right to get a better view on the tiny man.

"You won't believe what I heard from inside, Flash!" The Atom exclaimed. "Seems like that Kallen girl is confused right now. Just one convincing talk from us and she'll be a liable spy we could use."

Flash arched his eyebrow to urge Atom to continue.

"If we get her as a spy, we'll easily infiltrate their higher ranks and would easily guarantee us a win."

Flash arched his left brow and said, "How can you be so sure that she'll be our ally?"

The Atom looked at Flash with an expression that says 'Are you dumb or what?' on his face.

"Flash, I don't know if you're the fastest man alive or not. Surely you've seen the way she looked at Lelouch, eh?"

Flash recalled the few moments he saw Kallen with Lelouch around them. There was, somewhat, longing and sadness on her face whenever she looks at him but he just passed it as an imagination since he might be mistaken. After staring at her for a couple of minutes, Flash would avert his gaze and settles on looking at Lelouch to observe him. He never saw him stealing a mere glance towards Kallen and that was enough evidence for him to say that Lelouch never regarded Kallen as a friend nor a lover. She's just a mere acquaintance for him.

"Man! For someone who was the fastest man alive, you're sometimes so slow when it comes to comprehension, Flash." The Atom slapped his forehead in irritation.

"Well, I'm sorry if never taken it into account to observe Lelouch's lovelife!" Flash said, feeling offended with The Atom's outburst. "If he even had one! Geez, that boy's handsome but I'll never be surprised if he does end up as a monk."

"Nope, he won't end up as a monk." The Atom replied, taking Flash off-guard.

"What do you mean?"

The Atom stared at Flash, hopelessness on his eyes. "Really, Flash?"

Flash shrugged. "What?"

The Atom sighed heavily and decided to just tell his friend some news he acquired whilst listening to Raven and Beast Boy from earlier.

"Seems like that Shirley girl," he said, "has feelings for our Lelouch."

"Lelouch is really famous with the girls." Flash muttered.

"And Lelouch might have feelings for her, too."

The Atom observed the change on Flash's face. From being serious, his face change to being amused upon hearing the gossip from him.

"You're not kidding, aren't you?"

The Atom grinned, "Nope."

Flash sighed, happiness for the young man was overflowing his emotions.

"Finally! Thank goodness! I thought he'll stay single forever."

The Atom replied, "Yeah, me too. I-"

"Glad my love life was an interesting topic for you and kept you company while we're not here."

The Atom stopped midway and saw Lelouch landing softly on the ground. Behind him was Green Lantern Hal and Wonder Woman who were both smirking at the two gossipers.

"Never thought that you're a gossiper, Ray." Hal teased the tiny man.

The Atom, in turn, blushed at Hal's words. He attempted to retort back at Hal but Wonder Woman beat him to out.

"Shut up, Hal. We both know you're the one who gossips much than Ray."

A small smile erupted on The Atom's lips when he saw Hal blushing from hearing Wonder Woman's accusations. The brutal comeback of Wonder Woman was a satisfaction to feed Ray's ego.

"So, what's the sitrep?" Lelouch crouched behind the bush to observed the Black Knights' activities with a frown on his face.

Flash was the one who answered Lelouch's question instead of Ray. "Their starting to crumble, Lelouch. The inner circle's torn into two sides with Kallen hesitating to obey the majority's decision and Tamaki slowly defecting away from their orders."

"Tamaki's with us now, Atom." Wonder Woman whispered. "Batman has him as his contact inside."

Atom's brow furrowed in confusion. He was hesitant to voice out his problem with the situation but was thankful when Lelouch seemed to notice his distress.

"What?"

"Why's he slowly defecting in the Black Knights? If he's Batman's undercover, then he should do anything in his power to stay within the Black Knight's inner circle, right?"

"Ray's right," Hal commented, "If that Tamaki guy continued what he was doing and he accidentally slipped, then we're busted."

Lelouch stared at the two heroes with a smug look on his face. "Don't worry, you two. Tamaki may be an idiot but if he's loyal, he'll do his best to stay loyal."

"And besides," Lelouch continued, "no one in the Black Knights takes Tamaki seriously."

* * *

"Hello?" Tamaki whispered to his communicator, hesitation apparent on his voice. He looked around him to ensure once again that he's alone and with no one watching him. He sighed in relief when he noticed that no one was around.

" _Tamaki."_ The gruff voice of the caller on the other end greeted him.

Tamaki looked around once again before whispering, "I've done what you've asked me to do, Batman."

" _Did you hid it well?"_

"Yes, all three of the bombs are hidden well from the Black Knights."

" _Do you know what you're gonna do next?"_

Tamaki cleared his throat before answering, "Yes, I'll do something to distract the Black Knights' attention and usher them out of the camp before you detonate the bomb."

There was a slight scuffle in the background before it cleared.

" _Good."_ There was slight pause as if Batman was hesitating to continue but thankfully for Tamaki, he did.

" _Lelouch and the others have already arrived at the camp and Schneizel and his men were only a hundred miles away. Be quick and do your job efficiently."_

"Yes, I will."

" _And don't kill a bystander."_

Tamaki heard the beeping sound of the communicator, indicating that Batman has already dropped the call. Without any more delay, Tamaki went to do his task but not before getting the things he would need.

' _I can do this! I can do this!'_ He repeatedly chanted as he dashed quietly to the hiding place of his things so as not to alert the busy Black Knights.

When he arrived at the hiding place, he took his things and quickly went into action. He started by pouring the entire can of petroleum gas to a cabin and lighting it up before doing the same to the cabin beside it. After making sure that the flames would not stop eating the whole cabin, he quickly left the area before any members of the Black Knights could see him.

' _There!'_ He thought when he saw a stream far away from the camp.

He looked around and when he saw that no one was following him, he flung the evidences of his crime to the stream and waited as it flowed far away from where he stood. When he was sure that the evidences were far enough for anyone to notice, he decided to return to the camp to complete his task before the Britannians' arrival.

* * *

"Ohgi! Ohgi!"

Ohgi grunted as he continued trying to put out the fire on one of the two cabin. He could still hear someone screaming for help and it fuels his determination to put out the fire to save the people inside.

"Ohgi! The door's stuck, I can't open it!" Minami grunted as he tried to open the door of the cabin.

Ohgi took another pail of water from someone and hurriedly doused it on the burning wall of the cabin before flinging it away and approaching Minami to help him.

"On the count of three, we'll kick this door open!" He shouted.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three!"

They both kicked the door open and they watched as the fire grew inside as oxygen entered the previously-closed cabin. Ohgi was about to go inside when Minami stopped him and dragged him a few meters away from the door.

"Let go of me, Minami!" He struggled but Minami's strong grip continued to restrain him.

"Ohgi, no!" Minami shouted. "They're dead!"

He pointed to a pile of burning wood that once supports the roof of the cabin and saw a horrifying image before them.

"Oh, god. No." Ohgi whispered weakly.

Underneath the pile of wood, there was a body of a partially-burned man with his hand outstretched and pointed towards the door as if he's reaching out for something. His eyes were wide open but both Minami and Ohgi knew that he was already dead. There were also two bodies near the door, which, unluckily for the poor souls, very burnt and blackened to the point of unrecognizable.

"No! Hayato! No!"

An anguished cry broke both Minami and Ohgi from their trance and they looked at the source of the cry. A woman, in the mid-thirties, was being held by Kallen and Chiba as she wept loudly for someone named Hayato. Ohgi guessed that Hayato was one of the three people who never got out of the burning cabin.

"Ohgi…" Kallen whispered helplessly as she stared at Ohgi with resignation on her eyes. "W-what happened-"

"What happened here?!"

Ohgi averted his gaze from Kallen to stare at Tamaki who halted in his steps when he saw the burning cabin in front him.

"You." Tamaki hissed at Ohgi. "This is all your fault!"

He charged towards Ohgi but Kallen and Chiba restrained him before he could grab Ohgi.

"If we just stopped this operation and go back to our headquarters, then they wouldn't have to risk their lives!"

"Tamaki, stop!" Kallen pleaded. "For all we know it was a trap made by the Britannians!"

"Another reason why we shouldn't have come here!"

"Tamaki, stop this! Now!" Tohdoh roared when he arrived.

Tamaki immediately stopped struggling but not before sending out a glare towards Ohgi who stayed quiet.

"There's no good if we continued pointing fingers and blame each other. This is the time when we should have teamwork and discipline amongst us to overcome such tragedies!"

All the Black Knights around them fell quiet.

"If you continued behaving like babies, then," he glared at Tamaki, "we would surely experience our downfall in coming years!"

* * *

"Batman!" Wonder Woman hissed. "What are you thinking when you decided to get Tamaki as your spy?"

" _I thought you're okay with it?"_ Batman's gruff voice showed his annoyance.

Wonder Woman pinched the bridge between her nose and hissed back at Batman, "At first! But he killed three Black Knights!"

" _I explicitly told Tamaki to not kill someone in his task… and I don't believe he's the one who killed those three."_

"What do you mean?" Wonder Woman whispered, confused. She looked at Lelouch and saw him staring at her with brows furrowed in confusion.

" _Joker's already on the ground when Tamaki did his task. There might be a high chance that he first killed the three inside the cabin before Tamaki can burn it."_

"So, I was right." Lelouch whispered.

"You knew yet you did not told us?" Hal asked.

Lelouch shrugged and said, "I sometimes forgot that you guys has no super hearing."

"Then why didn't I heard it?" Wonder Woman whispered. She, too, has super hearing but it baffles her that she has never heard Joker and his arrival. Or maybe she did heard it?

"I dunno. I almost never heard his arrival because my hearing's still not improving but if not for him whining and moaning about mosquitos, I would've missed it."

"He's taking careful steps, eh?" Wonder Woman concluded. "Then, all the more reason why we should give our all to finish this task once and for all."

"They have an advantage. They know about what we could and couldn't do. Knowing Joker, he might have already leaked our powers to the Britannians and did precautionary measures to defeat us." Flash added.

"Yeah, and one wrong move, even if we are powerful, all our plans would crumble and we would be defeated." Hal said.

All of them fell silent as they watched the Black Knights preparing to leave the camp with the equipment they have scavenged. They still haven't seen a single sight of the core members and they guessed that they might be concocting some plan in order for them defend themselves if Britannians arrived.

"I can hear Joker." Lelouch whispered. "He's already attacking some members near the Black Knights' temporary headquarters."

"They're early. Do you think it would become a hindrance to our plans?" Wonder Woman asked as she readied her sword for the upcoming fight.

Lelouch answer, "It would, if we make a wrong move."

"Flash, radio Deadshot and the others. Tell them to make their move, now." Lelouch commanded as he watched as the Black Knights quicken to do their tasks. Right then and there, Lelouch knew that they were alerted to the presence of either Joker or the Britannians.

"Deadshot, this is Flash. You now have the authority to make your move. I repeat, you now have the authority." Flash commanded through his communicator.

" _Roger that, Flash."_ Deadshot responded. " _We're now heading to the location."_

After ending the line, Flash shot Lelouch a questioning look.

"I really thought you'd go and divide us into teams."

Lelouch sighed and muttered, "Well, there are still teams but I'm not following that up now. I still have some things to clear up with some members before I could make the teams official."

He smiled softly when he heard Wonder Woman whispering, "Good you realized that now."

All of them perked up when they heard Ray's signal that Deadshot and the others have already arrived to their location. Without any more delay, all of them, minus Ray and Flash, busted out of their hiding spot and knocked out all of the Black Knights around them.

"Hal, you know what to do." Lelouch before running away with Wonder Woman to confront Joker. Hal was left to destroy the equipment the Black Knights has scavenged and to make sure that they are safe whilst unconscious.

* * *

"Lelouch, I'm inbound on your location. ETA, 30 minutes. I just have to stop and check out something for a while."

Batman heard Lelouch's grunt of yes before disconnecting the line. He was not sure if Lelouch understood what he said for he knew that he was preoccupied with thoughts of battle but he knew Lelouch would definitely not mind it if he do a little detour. It's not like he wanted to but Batman felt like it must be his priority to confirm something to someone important before going out to a battle.

Besides, it might be an opportunity to get an intel om that 'someone'.

Before getting out of the Flying Fox, Batman activated the spy camera on his cowl to secretly record their meeting and to further gather some intel that he might miss during the meeting. If the meeting turns out to be a waste of time for him, then he could still do something for it to turn out to be an interesting one.

He looked around and saw no more heat signatures other than the person he would talk to. However, even though there's no other person, Batman was not sure if there are no traps laid out for him. He has to stay more vigilant than he would normally do to ensure that the if the meeting would turn to be a trap, he would easily dodge it and go on his way.

"You came alone?"

Batman heard his voice before he saw him right ahead.

"Yes. As I promised." He replied nonchalantly to mask the suspicion he was feeling.

"Good. Now-"

Batman abrasively cut off his talk and said, "Don't beat around the bush, Deathstroke. I'm here to talk, not to play around."

There was a few seconds of silence before Deathstroke let out a few chuckles. Despite Deathstroke's odd behavior, Batman stayed quiet and just let him to continue.

"You know, you don't have to be uptight now, Batman." He said before taking off his mask in front of Batman, his archnemesis, and revealing his face to him. "I came here to give you something useful. You should be thankful for that, trust me."

"Slade," Batman narrowed his eyes into slits, "even if you take off your mask in front of me, anything you say or will say would be suspicious."

"How can you expect me to trust you and be thankful for it?"

Deathstroke's lips slowly formed a smile. "I know…"

He threw something towards Batman to which he easily caught with his left hand. Opening his palm, Batman saw a flash drive that Deathstroke gave him.

"But you must know that Joker intends to destroy this world."

"Everyone knows that Deathstroke. That's an information that even the civilian knows."

Deathstroke turned his back towards Batman whilst saying, "I know… but you won't comprehend it until you see it."

* * *

 **A/N:** HAPPY HALLOWEEN, GUYS!

I'm sorry I had to take a temporary hiatus to focus on my study but don't worry… I'M BACK! I'm currently on semestral break and our finals just ended so I have plenty of time before the real battle begins. I dunno if I'm gonna take another temporary hiatus on February but if I am, I'm going to write a few more chapters. It's still not set but I have a feeling I would because I heard that our second semester's busier (baby thesis, Shakespearean play, etc.) than ever.

ANYWAAAAYYYY, before I completely finish this chapter, let me give my thanks to Wisegirl12xx, roger9481, shinydragonmist, Raxius, and Saint Sita.

Cheers! :)


	21. Turn 20: The Conflict at Hiroshima pt 2

**Turn 20: The Conflict at Hiroshima pt. 2**

* * *

 **Britannian Satellite Camp**

 **G1 Mobile Base**

 **10 minutes before the fire starts**

" _I expect you to win this battle, Joker. I gave you almost half of available resources that we have and failure is not what I would expect as an outcome."_

Joker snorted in laughter as he readied his guns while talking with Schneizel on a laptop. He ignored the slight glare Schneizel sent on his way and opted to carry out his activity.

"Chill yourself out, Blondie. I never said I would lose this one." Joker said as an assurance to the prince. "If those pals you sent would do no wrong move, then we'll have no problem."

Before Schneizel could open his mouth to reply, Joker hurriedly pressed the OFF button of the laptop. He spared no more time in lazing around and quickly went to join the men Schneizel sent with him to give out additional instructions.

"Okay, listen up, you warmongering folks!" He cleared his throat before continuing his speech.

"I have three rules for you to obey-first, obey all my instructions completely.

"Second, never run out of your focus… or else, I'll ram this knife down your throat."

He showed his sharp and glinting knife to his subordinates and most of them showed apparent fear on their eyes. Some even gulped nervously.

"Lastly… never, ever leave anyone alive." He said slowly while eyeing them, showing his ferociousness and madness that was his trademark characteristics.

Joker broke from his mad display and cheerfully said, "Well, except for Zero because we need him."

He snapped his fingers and a full image of an unmasked Zero appeared on the large screen in front of hundreds of soldiers. Murmurs of confusion, shock, and rage exploded amongst the soldiers when they saw a teenager dressed as the terrorist known as Zero. Joker, on the other hand, basked in the soldiers' reaction upon revealing the terrorist's identity thus, making him more excited to see the outcome of the battle that they partake in later.

"I know, I know," Joker shushed, "I understand what you're feeling, fellas. This young man,"

He pointed towards the screen and said, "Created big problems for you. A very big one."

"You don't know how big it is!"

"That man should die, young or not!"

"Why would a Britannian oppose his nation?!"

Loud chatterings once again erupted inside the room, thus overpowering Joker from speaking.

Agitated, he took out his gun and proceeded to fire bullets across the room until the mag was empty. After his untimely killing spree, he dropped his empty gun and stared excitedly at the cowering soldiers, most were hidden and dropped to the floor but some… were dead.

"Well, I keep telling you to listen but you never did. Now, look what happened." He said with a chilling smile on his face.

"You, psychopath!"

A brave, yet foolish private, stood and screamed at Joker despite what he did mere minutes ago.

"You have no right to do this to-"

Joker took another gun behind him and blindly aimed at the brave private's head before shooting him. Blood and gore splattered on the once shiny floor, joining the blood of the other dead soldiers from earlier.

"Aww, would you look at the brave, young man!"

He approached the dead body of the soldier and crouched in front of it. The soldiers around him backed away in horror and fear of getting in the way of Joker.

"He's brave and I want you to have the same courage that he has."

He fired another shot at the corpse before standing and facing the soldiers.

"But to your enemies, not to me."

He went to the exit of the room, with fearful guards following him, but decided to linger just one more time to send the soldiers off.

"Now, recruits! Go on and spread violence to this world! HAHAHA!"

* * *

 **'** ** _I killed them… I killed them all!'_**

Tamaki thought as he stared guiltily as the fire engulfed the cabin, reducing it to mere ashes and coals. Inside it were several bodies of his comrades who died because of the fire that they didn't know he started.

' _I'll be haunted by this!'_

He claimed hundreds of lives of men and soldiers during their campaign against Britannia but it is different to killing his own comrades and betraying them. He already betrayed his friends by allying himself with Lelouch and he sunk himself deeper by killing his once comrades.

"I'm sorry." He whispered quietly as the roaring of fire concealed his words of regret.

However, his resolve to help Lelouch still trumps his regret. He knew Lelouch was the only one who can free Japan from Britannia's clutches, even more now that Lelouch has powerful friends. Their chances of winning is higher than ever.

Nonetheless, the rest of the Black Knights are turning a blind-eye on their possible victory. They are dead set against Lelouch. They are thinking of their emotions and prides first than thinking the wellness of their country, which was more important. It leaves him no choice but to work for Lelouch to free Japan and its people.

"I promise… this would end soon." Tamaki promised.

He spared one last glance to the burning cabin before running away, leaving it with fire still burning the cabin to the ground.

* * *

 ** **10 minutes later...****

"Please, I beg you!"

A Japanese man dropped on his knees in front of Joker. "Please, don't kill me!"

"I'm sick of hearing your useless pleas, you Eleven!"

Joker took a wooden chair and hurled it to the man with too much force that destroyed the chair and collapsed the man on the floor.

He grabbed the Japanese's hair and pulled it hard, making the Japanese wince in pain. "You know why Britannians conquered your country?"

He slammed the Japanese's head against the floor and pulled back his head once again, leaning closer to his ear to whisper. "Because you're all weak!"

Joker said no more to the Japanese and ended him with a headshot, spilling his brain and gore on the floor. He smirked at the corpse before spitting on it.

"That's easy." He muttered.

Turning around, Joker scrunched his forehead in annoyance when he saw the three soldiers, who went with him, on the floor and puking their guts out upon seeing the murder that Joker committed.

Joker approached one soldier and kicked his stomach before exiting the cabin and muttering, "Wussy."

* * *

" _We still see no sign of Joker here in our area, Lelouch."_ Deadshot reported through the communicator. " _Although we think we've seen some signs that he's been here."_

"You're near the burning cabin, right?" Lelouch panted as he run and avoid the trees the trees at the same time. The dense forest around the camp made it difficult for him to freely move but made it easier for him to hide.

' _Oh, well. You win some, you lose some.'_

"Can you still keep up?" Diana asked worriedly.

Lelouch glanced at her sideways and said, "You really are a worry wart, mother."

Diana chuckled, "Well, what can I do? You always make me worry."

He smiled at her explanation.

' _It's really good to have a parent care for you.'_ He thought.

They immediately stopped running when they heard gunshots to their right. Hiding behind the bushes, they silently observed the happenings in front of them.

"What are they doing?" Diana whispered.

"I don't know but whatever it is, it's not good." Lelouch whispered back.

"Okay! Pile that up here, quickly!" A Britannian officer shouted. "The Joker wants that corpses to be as high as the trees."

One private stopped piling the bodies and faced the exasperated officer.

"Are we really going to continue this bullshit?!"

His words seemed to have a domino effect on the others as they quickly stopped their task and faced rally against the officer.

The officer huffed in annoyance. "We don't have any other choice, you dimwits! We all saw how the Joker killed some of our men and we're all gonna end up with them if we don't finish this!"

"He's just some psycho and we're soldiers! We can easily kill him!"

"The Joker has them wrapped around his finger," Diana said. "They can't do anything to stop him even if they want it."

"That's why the Joker chose them to be his underlings." Lelouch replied in annoyance. "He knew they don't have any power to oppose him. If they did, he'll just kill them like he always does."

They continued watching as the soldiers continued to rally against their officer.

"This is morally unacceptable!" One soldier shouted.

The officer gritted his teeth and shouted back, "If you think this is morally unacceptable, then how come you're here fighting and killing some Elevens, huh?!"

"Touchè." Lelouch whispered.

"Captain Flinch!"

Both Diana and Lelouch took their sights away from them to see a private sprinting towards the group. He dropped in front of the captain as he tried to regain his breath.

"What is it, private?" Captain Flinch grumbled.

"Captain…" The private mumbled incoherently. "The Joker… he's…"

The soldiers gathered around them as they tried to hear what the private has to say. They were anxious to hear what he has to say in regards to the Joker.

"He'll be here… in five minutes. We've… got to hurry."

Captain Flinch quickly turned to his men and said, "You all heard the lad! Now, move!"

They all scrambled back to their task rather reluctantly. Yes, they were opposed to the Joker's orders but their morals were greatly trampled by fear and instincts. They were all left to obey a psychopath's orders.

"So, we just arrived in the correct place." Diana mumbled as she readied her lasso and sword for the upcoming fight.

"This would be hard." Lelouch said. "As much as I want to reduce the casualties this time around, I know I can't do it."

Diana nodded, "Yes, because having Joker around this men would mean death for them. Knowing Joker, he would use them as a human shield."

Lelouch did not replied back to Diana. Instead, he decided to contact Flash for support.

"Flash, where are you?"

There was a strong sound of gusts of wind in the background but Lelouch could easily hear his deep breaths and huffs.

" _I just finished knocking some people out in five miles radius and loaded them onto several trucks."_ There was pause before he continued, " _What do you need, Lelouch?"_

"Meet us in the south-west side of the camp; our location should be visible in your locator."

" _What about Deadshot?"_

Lelouch gritted his teeth in annoyance. He forgot that Flash was supposed to be Deadshot's backup if they encountered some problem. However, he really needed Flash's help if he want to save the soldiers' life from the Joker.

"Stay put, Flash. I'll get back to you."

Lelouch did not wait for Flash's reply and quickly contacted Hal.

" _Yo, what is i-"_

"Hal, I need you to provide temporary support to Deadshot. ASAP."

" _On it, Lelouch."_

After hearing Hal's affirmation, Lelouch quickly contacted one last person for the last time to ensure that their plan is safe.

"Father. Where are you?"

He heard the familiar growl of his father's voice.

" _I'm three minutes away from the camp."_

"Perfect." Lelouch whispered. "Father, I need to you take over Hal's work for now. I needed Flash so I had to slightly rearrange the plan."

"Also, contact Superman and tell him that I need him in the battlefield."

There was silence on the other end before Lelouch heard Batman's reply.

" _Okay."_

"Lelouch," Lelouch heard Diana call his name. "Joker's approaching."

With Diana's warning, Lelouch hastily cut his connection on Batman.

"Just in time for Joker to arrive." He said before looking around to find Flash hiding behind the trees adjacent to their current hiding place.

It took a few minutes before Lelouch could see the familiar built of Joker.

There was something strange about the way he composes himself but Lelouch passed it on as just as his imagination. Aside from that slightly obvious strangeness on Joker, there was nothing Lelouch could ever see on the psychopath.

"I signalled to Barry not to make any move before Joker arrives. Hope that it didn't messed up your plan." She apologized.

Lelouch nodded and said, "It's actually better."

"Though we must not make them a bait any longer than five minutes… or else Joker might start killing them one by one." Diana gave Lelouch a sideways glance before leaving him on his spot and crawling towards her designated spot.

"You two already in position and ready?" Lelouch mouthed to both Flash and Diana to which they both nodded in reply.

"Barry, go!" He whisper-yelled his signal and Flash immediately sprung into action.

In less than three seconds, the soldiers vanished from the scene as Flash brought them into somewhere safe and far away from Joker.

However, despite being safe from Joker's hands, they still are enemies and they have to detain the soldiers for questioning. The Atom would probably facilitate the soldiers once Flash dropped them off.

After Barry finished his mission, both Diana and Lelouch jumped out of their hiding spot and tackled the unsuspecting Joker.

"What?!"

Lelouch and Diana both shriek when the should-be Joker screamed and pleaded for his life. His voice was shaky (which was completely out of his character) and unknown to the ears of both Diana and Lelouch.

"Stop! Stop! I beg you!"

His voice was muffled as he continued to plead for his life while laying face-first on the ground.

Diana reached out a hand and forcely turned the unknown man unto his back.

"Shit." Lelouch cursed when he found out that Joker used a dummy on his place.

"Shit, indeed, dear Lelouch."

Lelouch turned around when he heard Joker's voice, completely confused when he doesn't heard him approaching.

"You-"

"Lelouch! No!" Diana shouted.

It was too late; Joker has already shot Lelouch with a gun loaded with Kryptonite bullets.

Lelouch dropped on the ground, writhing in pain and completely vulnerable to Joker. Diana was left to protect him as Joker go through his plan to get Lelouch.

"Get that brat." Joker commanded his men composed of Britannian soldiers.

They advanced towards the vulnerable Lelouch but never got to touch him thanks to Diana. She punched and kicked every man who tried to take away the son she never had.

"Get off!"

She kicked one man on his gut stronger than necessary for his weak body but Diana didn't mind it. She doesn't have time to sympathize to the men who's trying to take away Lelouch.

Diana's punches and kicks exudes more blood from the soldiers and some might even have internal bleeding from the beatings they got from her but she didn't mind it.

After defeating the soldiers, Diana looked for Joker to give him the beating he so deserved but he vanished in the midst of her battle. She never mind it-all she ever mind at the moment is the welfare of Lelouch.

She was ready to escape with Lelouch, however, Joker appeared again… with several knightmare frames on his tail.

"Think you could escape me, Wonder Wench?" Joker grinned at Diana. "Fret not because you won't! HAHAHAHA!"

Diana grunted in anger as she watched Joker in disgust. She never knew why there is someone like the Joker exists in reality.

"Helen of Troy, prepare to die!" Joker took a sword out of a scabbard, hoisted it in the air, and shouted, "Come forth, y'all knight-wannabees! Hoist your guns high up in their asses!"

Diana braced herself as the barrage of gunshots from knightmare frames started to fly in the air. She was successful in defending Lelouch and herself in the first onslaught but when the other knightmare frames started to advance on her position, she knew that she can't defend for too long.

" _Diana, hang on! I'm coming there!"_ She heard Flash through her comms. " _I just encountered a very slight problem."_

Diana blocked a punch from a knightmare frame and delivered her own punch, effectively rendering the knightmare useless from the magnitude of damage it received.

"That's all you've got, Joker?" Diana smirked despite the fact that ten knightmare frames were circling her and Lelouch.

"D-Diana!" Lelouch grunted through his pain.

"Hang on, Lelouch!" Diana comforted him. "We're gonna get out of here."

Joker arched his left eyebrow and leaned his upper body in front. His face was etched with a large grin and a murderous glint on his eyes.

"Do you really think so?" He purred rather disgustingly.

* * *

"What are you doing there?"

Tamaki swiftly turned around and found himself staring at Batman.

"I-I… just... " He found himself trying to speak the words he wanted to say but was unable to do so.

"You're blaming yourself… Am I right?"

When Batman uttered those words, there was something inside Tamaki that broke his own resolve. He did not manage to stop himself from bursting his anger and express his regret from the thing he has done despite the oath he has taken at the burning cabin earlier.

"I can't help! I killed my men, I killed them all!"

Tears ran down his cheeks as he continued to rant at Batman.

"Can you blame me? I never knew they were inside the damn cabin in the first place!"

Batman's eyes narrowed at the Japanese. "Ignorance is not bliss, Tamaki. You can't be considered as innocent just because you didn't know there were people inside the cabin."

Tamaki hung his head in complete shame and regret. "All the more reason for me to feel guilty."

"Tamaki," Batman approached the Japanese and faced him, "I still haven't detonated the bomb but the fire you created was able to distract the other Black Knights."

"I know." Tamaki wept.

Batman felt a sadistic tendency in his gut as he watched him cry. He never knew if he would tell Tamaki that the people inside the cabin were already dying when he burned the cabin down to ashes but he immediately felt pity for him.

Batman sighed. "Tamaki, stop crying."

Tamaki looked at him with teary eyes and waited for him to talk.

"The thing is… they're already dead when you burned the cabin. I've already confirmed it."

From sadness to anger, Tamaki's face quickly changed emotions when he found out the truth from Batman.

"How?! Why?!"

"I went there to confirm my hunch. Someone should've made it out alive of the cabin when the fire broke out but no one got alive. I believe someone already killed them before you can even kill them."

Batman took out a burned metal in a ziplock bag from his pouch and held it in front Tamaki's face.

"I got these bullets from one of the victims. Turns out he was gunned to death."

He took another thing from his pouch and this time, it was some photographs. He gave it to Tamaki for him to see it personally.

"That one died slowly from the looks of it. He was beaten by someone using a heavy object. What it is, I don't know."

Tamaki wanted to puke from seeing the gruesome photographs. They were all burned but he can clearly see the insides of some of them.

"There were a total of five dead bodies inside; three of them died before the fire and two from the fire."

Tamaki handed the photographs back to Batman, not having any strength to look at it any more than necessary.

"Who do you think killed them?"

Batman answered without beating around the bush.

"It is Joker." He gritted his teeth in anger but never made it known to Tamaki. "I don't think he did-he really did it. No need for me to think of anyone but him whenever I see these cards."

He let Tamaki see the Joker cards on his hands, which was still tainted in blood and gore with the edges slightly burned.

"But how did-"

" _Batman!"_

Batman held up his hand when he heard Deadshot's voice on his comms.

"What is it, Deadshot?"

He can hear Deadshot pants and gunshots from the background and he already knew what it means.

" _We've been ambushed!"_

Batman gritted his teeth in annoyance. "Tell me every detail, Deadshot!"

" _The mission's going good but out of the blue, Clayface and the others arrived."_

"Shit." He muttered under his breath when he found out the situation Deadshot was currently in.

He knew Lelouch's plan was perfect but he never thought it would create many problems along the way. However, he knew that Lelouch has made backup plans in case if the plan failed but he still haven't heard anything from Lelouch and Diana ever since he gave out an order for him to temporarily take up on Hal's work.

" _We made contact with Flash earlier and he said that Bane and others ambushed them, too. He and Ray are currently battling Bane and Reverse Flash as we speak."_

"Have you made contact with the HQ?" Batman asked. "What about Lelouch and Diana? Have you heard anything from them?"

" _I can't contact the HQ; Clayface must've damaged my comms rendering it only on short-distance communications. As for Lelouch and Diana,"_

Gunshots intensified in the background and he can hear Deadshot cursed under his breath.

" _I heard from Flash that Lelouch was wounded by a Kryptonite gun."_

' _Just what I need!'_ Batman thought angrily. ' _Joker… you'll pay for this!'_

" _I need to go, Batman. They're already catching up with me. I'll report to you when I can."_

Then, the connection died.

"What happened, Batman?"

Batman stared at Tamaki, which made Tamaki conscious and terrified.

"Do you know how to fly a jet plane?"

He looked at Batman with confusion but still answered him. "Uhh, yeah. I can."

"Good. Now, follow me."

* * *

A/N: Merry Christmas, everyone! I know this is a short chapter but I intended it this way. This arc was actually divided into three chapters before I make another new chapter title and scenes. The past characters that was mentioned/has a scene in the earlier chapters of the story (e.g., Luthor, V.V., the rest of the Task Force X, and etc.,) would finally make their appearance back in the story.

Anyways, I made another story. It's titled as 'Chō Teikoku no Shōtotsu'. It still has 1 chapter but I'll update it before the year ends.

Special thanks to Perseus12, jetslinger333, Saint Sita, and notsofrilly for reviewing in past chapters!

Cheers and Happy Holidays! :)


	22. Turn 21: The Conflict at Hiroshima pt 3

**Turn 21: The Conflict at Hiroshima part 3**

* * *

 ** **Unknown Location****

The dripping sound of water hitting the cement roused Rolo from his deep slumber. He slowly opened his eyes and groaned when soft rays of sun clouded his vision. He moved his left hand to block the sunrays but found himself constrained from his position.

"What the…?"

He glanced at his arm and found a thick rope wrapped around his arm and chained to the metal post near the window. Several bruises laced his arm but the numbness he felt from all over his body hindered him from feeling the pain.

"What happened? Where am I?"

All Rolo can remember are the happenings of the battle and his infiltration to the Government Bureau. Anything that happened past that was lost to his memory.

He jolted when he remembered his brother.

"Big brother!"

Rolo felt burns and cuts on his flesh as he twisted and turned; his flesh were suffering from his actions. However, his numbness still hindered him from feeling pain and if he did felt some, he just didn't think about it. The most important thing he should accomplish is to get out of his constraints and make his way to his brother.

"Don't waste your energy trying to escape; it'd be futile."

Rolo stopped his trashing and slowly looked at the owner of the voice. His face changed from mild surprise to pure shock when he saw the face of his capturer.

"Yeah, I know what you'd ask. I'd tell you; don't bother." He kneeled in front of Rolo and stared at him.

"Who're you?" He asked the looked around his confinements before asking another question. "What am I doing here? Release me at once!"

The unburnt part of his capturer's face frowned at his desperate pleas.

"You are in no position to demand your freedom, young lad."

He grabbed Rolo's shoulders and hardly pushed him against the he was leaning on. Rolo grunted in anger when he felt his body roughly colliding the wall.

"So shut your trap before I make you. Understood?"

Rolo just glared at him but he never said anything in return. His capturer might have taken it as an affirmative and quickly, but harshly, let go of him.

"Just be lucky I managed to convinced the Joker not to kill your ass."

* * *

 ** **Britannian Satellite Camp****

" _Superman, where are you?!"_

"I'm engaging… an enemy!"

Several punches landed on his gut and chest, making Superman unable to properly answer Batman.

He tried to grab Thawne but his speed hindered him from doing so. He was faster than him and he was using it as an advantage against him.

"So, what now, Superman!"

He heard Thawne laughing.

"You're faster than the bullet, they said," he said with malice and sarcasm lacing his words, "but you're no match for me!"

With enough force to wreck a ship, Thawne punched Superman on his abdomen that caused him to fly across the forest. He ended up destroying several old trees and large boulders. Droplets of blood dripped on the corner of Superman's mouth but he just wiped it with his sleeves.

"Not so super, eh?"

Crackles of lightning surrounds the forest as Thawne ran across the forest and launch another set of attacks on Superman. Fatigue was slowly eating away Superman's energy due to the chase Thawne has set but he knew he could not let the fatigue beat him.

Fortunately for him, Thawne's arch nemesis finally arrived.

"Face me, you coward!" Flash lunged at Thawne and dragged him far away from Superman, giving him enough time to compose himself before assisting Flash with Thawne.

"I'm gonna kill you, Barry!" Thawne grunted angrily as Flash shoved his face on the foot of a cliff while still running.

Flash gritted his teeth in anger and answered, "If you can!"

When he heard Superman coming closer to them, Flash immediately tossed Thawne to him and proceeded to give him punches while being held by Superman. It continued to go on like that for five more minutes until he noticed that Thawne passed out due to blood loss.

Superman let the unconscious body of Thawne drop on to the forest floor and turned to Flash.

"Where's Ray?"

Flash slowly averted his gaze on Thawne's body to stare at Superman.

"He's engaging Bane on the other side of the forest."

"What about the others?"

Flash shook his head in dismay and said, "I don't know. I made contact with Deadshot earlier but sadly Thawne arrived. I never got the chance to ask him their sitrep."

A loud sound of a bomb setting off took Superman and Flash's attention and immediately gave them worries.

"I have a feeling that's not the bomb Batman gave to Tamaki." Superman whispered.

"Shit," Flash exclaimed, "we need to move now!"

"I'll go and search for Diana and Lelouch. You go and search for Ray. Got it?"

Flash nodded and immediately took off in the opposite direction where Superman headed.

"Batman," Superman opened his comms to communicate with Batman, "what's your situation?"

" _I can't find Lelouch and Diana. I can't even communicate with the Headquarters to inform them of our situation."_

Superman narrowed his eyes into slits and continued to search for Lelouch and Diana's location.

"It's like someone's preventing us from getting help."

There was a soft crackle on the connection before Superman heard his friend's voice.

" _Yes, someone's isolating us. I don't know who, but I have a bad feeling that Joker's involved with this one."_

"Or maybe not." He whispered quietly but he knew Batman heard him very clearly.

" _What do you mean?"_

"The bomb that was detonated earlier… it's not yours, isn't it?" The crackle on the comms continued to grow stronger.

Silence occupied the other end of the line before Superman heard him curse under his breath.

" _Shit."_

" _Please tell me it's not-"_

And the connection ended.

"An electronic countermeasure bomb… yes, it is." He whispered sarcastically under his breath.

* * *

 **Headquarters**

"Sir, we can't establish a connection on their comm links."

Birchwood frowned and approached the station of the private who reported to him.

"Have you tried contacting all of their comm links?"

The private tried to contact the comm links of Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Lelouch, and the rest of the deployed metahumans, non-metahumans, and soldiers but got no response from them.

"Still none, sir. What shall we do?"

Birchwood thought for a second until he remembered Batman's batplane. He knew Batman has comprehensive communicating technology aboard his flying fortress; he just prayed that it's still capable of establishing a connection.

"Contact Batman's plane. If we're lucky, we could establish a connection and send an alert."

"I'm on it, boss."

All the military personnel inside the command center became busy as they tried to locate and establish a connection with Batman's personal vehicle. They were not sure if it would be successful given the fact that someone might have damaged their comm links, rendering them unable to send reports and alerts to the command center, but they still have to try their luck.

Their hopes and prayers are answered when their co-worker shouted hastily.

"Sir! I have located the Batplane!"

Birchwood immediately went to his work area to confirm his report and sighed in relief when it was really true.

"The connection's not to strong to send a live audio message but I've already sent an alert to give Batman a heads up."

Birchwood nodded in understanding but frowned when he saw the reply that they received.

"'It's an all-out-war here! Send the others for help,'" Birchwood read the message that flashed on the screen, "'love, Tamaki.'"

Birchwood exclaimed in surprise, "Who the hell's Tamaki?"

"That would be Batman's spy."

Birchwood turned around and saw Green Lantern John Stewart, who came back from checking Jeremiah Gottwald's modification process.

"Spy, huh?" Birchwood smirked. "So, when are you gonna tell us about your 'spy'?"

John shrugged and said, "I would like to tell you about it sooner but it's up to Batman and Lelouch to make the decision when to tell you."

Birchwood hummed under his breath.

"Well, fair enough."

"So, what's sitrep?" John said as he approach the work station near him to find out the situation on the Britannian camp. He has received no details of what has happened while he was gone and he was itching to find out about it.

Birchwood went back to the workstation he was at earlier and continued to give report to John.

"The last we heard from them is that Clayface, Reverse Flash, and Bane entered the battle. We don't know who engaged who 'coz we lost connection with them."

"Any idea why we lost connection?" John started to play on the computer he was using the audio recording of the last status report of every men assigned in infiltrating the camp. He was in the middle of the audio recording when static started damage the communication, making it harder to understand the audio as every second passes.

"Probably an ECM bomb though I'm not entirely sure about it."

Birchwood continued to relay the situation report to John as he continued to listen to every audio recordings of the sitrep he hasn't heard when he went to Gottwald.

"Superman also entered but the last we heard of him is when he was engaging the Reverse Flash."

"So, Lelouch and Diana's still vulnerable in the battlefield?" John grunted in irritation.

"Unfortunately," Birchwood replied.

John turned his back and immediately headed for the exit but before he managed to get out, he heard his name being called by Birchwood.

"Where the hell you're going?"

"No one's gonna save them but me." John said before exiting the command center to go and have his prep for the upcoming battle.

"I'll be taking Kilowog, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl with me. The rest of you will guard this place."

"How would you contact us if you've already found the rest of them?" Birchwood was full of hesitations when he asked the question.

John stared at him, eyes wide with incredulous glint as if asking Birchwood, 'really, you're asking me that shit?'

The lieutenant reluctantly sighed and said, "nevermind."

* * *

 **Kaminejima Island**

Bismarck Waldstein gingerly sat in front of Emperor Charles and gave him the manila folder that contained the recent reports about the battle that was taking place in one of Britannia's satellite camps. He watched earnestly as the emperor scanned through the document and read the highlights he has added about Prince Schneizel's recent behavior.

"Schneizel has only three hundred men under his wing," Emperor Charles said, "but how come ninety-eight of his men died hours before the battle officially started?"

"And ninety-eight's a large number." Bismarck added.

"Indeed, it is." He agreed. Tossing the manila folder on the table, Charles stood from his seat and approached the mini bar located at the corner of the room and poured himself a Bourbon. He can feel Bismarck's eyes staring at his back but he just stayed quiet.

' _I have a feeling there's something he's not telling me.'_ He thought.

Bismarck sighed tiredly and massaged his aching head. "There's also something you should know, Your Highness."

"Hmm? What about it?" Charles went back on his seat and continued to sip on his drink.

Bismarck stared directly at Charles eyes and started to relay the news he dreaded to tell.

"A general managed to get out of Schneizel's grip without him noticing."

Charles gave Bismarck his full attention and chose to forsake his drinking.

"I presume he has told you of Schneizel's activities," Charles stated, purely sure with his assumptions on the general's actions.

"Yes," Bismarck grunted, "apparently, the second prince has someone aiding him."

Charles' left eyebrow raised in question, "Elaborate."

The Knight of One took a folded piece of paper on his pocket, unfolded it, and laid it on the table for Charles to see. "This man has offered to Schneizel to defeat Lelouch."

The paper held a grainy image of a man dressed in clown getup but Charles could clearly see the sinister look on the man's eyes. It was something he had first seen on Lelouch's eyes ever since Rolo has dragged him and Suzaku from St. Petersburg. The same look on Lelouch's eyes as he cackled loudly and smiling sinisterly at him.

"According to the general, it was that guy," Bismarck pointed towards the paper, "who killed the ninety-eight soldiers."

"Have you ran a scan on the database to find out his identity?"

Bismarck sighed once more and regrettably said, "Already did and came back with nothing."

"Just like the ones from before," Charles said when he remembered the unknown guests from the past battle, "no identification file on our database."

"Your Highness, pardon me from saying this but," Bismarck stated, "I think Prince Schneizel is getting desperate to defeat Lelouch that he has resorted to getting help from a questionable person."

"He is, Bismarck," Charles agreed, which surprised Bismarck probably because that was the first time the emperor has stated his displeasure on the second prince's actions. "And I won't be surprised if that would lead to Schneizel's downfall."

"Well," Charles pushed the paper back to Bismarck and opened another topic he was itching to discuss, "any news on my wife's whereabouts?"

"Still nothing, Your Highness," Bismarck stated and continued, "but we found Lady Alstreim's Mordred miles away from the Government Bureau. There was nothing valuable that may lead us to her whereabouts but the damage on the Mordred suggests that it was forcibly opened by something."

"There might even be an altercation that happened because of the gunshots we saw on the Mordred's interior walling of the cockpit. It just so happened that the video and audio recording system of the Mordred was off that we cannot retrieve any possible leads."

"Goddamnit." He sighed, irritated. "What about the unknown assailants?"

"Still found nothing, apparently." Bismarck calmly said. "It's like they just appeared out of nowhere. No leads; no evidences; no identification; no anything."

Charles grunted loudly and slammed his hands on the table. Bismarck did not even flinched when he witnessed the emperor's reaction to his news, having been used to the aggressiveness of the emperor's character.

"So, what're we go-"

A knock disturbed the Knight of One from speaking, earning a groan from him and an irritated sigh from the emperor. He looked towards Charles, indirectly asking if he has permission to open the door for whoever disturbed their meeting. Charles reluctantly nodded, having come o conclusion that it might be an urgent news or news related to the ongoing battle.

"What do you want," Bismarck said as soon as the person in question entered the room, "V.V.?"

Charles, upon hearing his brother's name, looked up at the doorway and frowned upon seeing his older brother.

"I thought you're…"

"Captured?" V.V. walked towards the nearest seat, which happened to be Bismarck's seat, and sat languishly on it. "Yes, I was, brother… but I managed to escape that brute's clutches."

Charles narrowed his eyes in suspicion. His brother may be small in nature but he knew damn well that the brat can't (for the life of him) devise any viable escape plan let alone be sneaky when escaping.

' _Perhaps his capturer's a tosspot?'_ His mind immediately went to overdrive just to think of any reason that might explain why the brat escaped and was now in front of him.

As if reading his mind, V.V. immediately launched in to explaining how he got out of his capturer's grasp.

"The barbarian's an idiot," he said, tiredly, "leaving me on my own to drink his booze and too drunk to even properly watch me on my cell."

Charles grunted in annoyance. Perhaps what he was saying was true. He only need one look to know that the bastard that took V.V. away was a complete idiot. Talk about complete unluckiness for Charles.

"I managed to escape when he opened my cell door, still heavily drunk." He flicked his fingers in complete uninterest. "That just gave me a chance to get away from that hell-hole."

Charles cleared his throat in an effort to stop himself from bursting out his anger on his brother's easy escape. He knew that if he heard anything more about his escape, he won't be able to control his anger and might hinder his plans.

"So," he said, moving on to an important subject, "what did you see in that 'hell-hole'?"

V.V. frowned when his brother gave a heavy emphasis on the words 'hell-hole'. Perhaps he doesn't know the pain he has felt during his captivity?

"You actually don't see the problem here, eh, Charles?" He leaned closer towards Charles in order to stare him down, but retracted after a few seconds when he saw that he has no effect on his younger brother. "Ah, forget it."

He jumped down on his chair and went to the door. Before going out of Charles' office, he turned back and stared at the two occupants of the office.

"If you ask me," he started, "you don't have any chance to defeat them."

He walked away, leaving them alone.

As he walked on the empty corridor, he slowly morphed into his original form, erasing V.V.'s physique on his body. All but a whisper and the flapping of his blue coat can be heard as he disappeared into thin air.

"No chance, Charles zi Britannia."

* * *

 **Miles away from Britannian Satellite Camp**

"I don't like this."

It was meant to be a whisper, but given the irritated sigh Shiera gave, Carter knew that she heard what he has said.

"What you don't like," she muttered under her breath, "this battle… or me being here?"

Carter flew closer to Shiera, but before he could get closer, she went to the opposite direction of their destination.

"I'll look here… see if I can find something worthy here."

Carter was left staring at her back with regret and remorse apparent in his eyes. He knew he messed things up… again.

A soft tap on his shoulder broke his gaze on Shiera and he turned around to see John, jutting his thumb to the place where they should be. With one last longing stare thrown at her direction, Carter reluctantly followed John.

"Don't worry, Carter," he said. "She'll come around."

He sighed in distress. "I hope so, John. I hope so."

A piercing scream broke them back to their senses and John and Carter hastily approached the area where the scream came from. When they landed, they saw a gruesome scene happening right before their own eyes.

"Son of a…"

A Japanese family living close to the satellite camp was being held as hostages by several Britannian soldiers against several Black Knights. They can't do anything to incapacitate the soldiers for they use the family as their shield against them.

"The mother's already dead," said John as he observed the bullet-ridden corpse of the mother.

Spurred by anger, Carter rushed towards the soldiers. None of them had the chance to react when Carter's mace hit their bodies; the force of the hit was enough for them to be killed.

"Goddamnit, Carter!" John hissed but hurriedly flew towards the family and gathered them inside a green bubble before flying them away to safety.

Carter spare John a glance before lying his eyes on the terrified Black Knights. They had their guns trained on him and their eyes on his wings, but he sensed that they knew the guns is nothing to him.

Glaring at them, Carter hissed out, "what're you waiting for? Run along before I kill all of you, scumbags!"

They wasted no time and hurriedly ran away from him in fear of becoming his next victim.

Carter was about to fly away from the scene when he saw John from the corner of his eyes.

"Why the heck did you do that?" He admonished. "That family saw their mother being killed in front of them; no more need to let them see you killing those Britannians."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Carter sighed in irritation. "Now, can we just continue whatever the hell we've been doing?"

"Look, I know I might cross my line with this, but whatever you and Shiera has been fighting about," John sighed, "it needs to be resolved."

He knew Carter was not listening to him, but John continued to tell him whatever he needs to do in order to get his mind on the mission.

"Whatever you two have been fighting has been keeping you out of your focus… and I'm not telling this as your colleague or a comrade," he placed a comforting hand on Carter's shoulder, "but as a friend, man."

Carter sighed deeply and nodded in regret. "I know… and I'm sorry about it."

"Come on," John muttered. "We're still on the mission. Just worry about it later and get your head on the game, clear?"

Carter nodded and said, "Crystal."

"Good." John started to fly away from Carter. "Now, come on!"

* * *

 **Titans Tower**

"Tell me something about Lelouch," Clovis said to Dick, which surprised the former Robin. "Who is he here?"

""Umm," Dick scratched the back of his head in pure confusion. "Why do you ask?"

Clovis sighed deeply and launched onto his explanation.

"I know my brother, of course, but that was when we're still kids and before they were exiled." Clovis faced Dick and continued. "When I met him again, I instantly knew he harbored ill feelings towards us. I don't know why, but I knew it has something to do with his dead mother…"

"Or the fact that you're one of his father's sons," Dick said to which Clovis agreed upon with a nod of his head.

"Everyone he knew that has a connection to Father is instantly on his hate list. That basically gave away that he changed for the worst."

"Yeah," Dick said, "you're right. He's a changed man, but I don't know if it's for the worst or for the best that he's changed."

"That's why I wanted to know more about him," Clovis said. "I need more justification on the things he has done and why he continued doing it."

Dick stared at him for a couple if seconds before focusing his gaze back to the horizon ahead of him. he understands where Clovis was coming from, but he was unsure if telling everything about Lelouch's pain and happiness would guarantee to change Clovis' impression on him. He was also unsure if it was the right time and if he was the right person to tell Clovis of Lelouch's true persona.

' _But I guess no one's gonna tell him in the near future. Everyone's still pointing fingers as to who would tell Clovis about Lelouch,'_ he thought. ' _Perhaps, I'm saving them an explanation.'_

"Okay," Dick finally agreed to Clovis. "So, what do you wanna know?"

"Well," Clovis started. "Every-"

" _WARNING. INTERDIMENSIONAL TRAVEL AT IMMINENT_."

The blaring warning of their computer's AI made both Clovis and Dick shot up from their seats in surprise. Without any more delays, they quickly head back inside the Titan's Tower and to the main room where they joined the rest of the Titans.

"What's happening?" Dick inquired.

"Apparently, someone is attempting to do an interdimensional jump," Speedy replied. "We don't know who or where, but Oracle's already onto it."

Dick nodded in understanding. "Are we connected to Oracle?"

"Yep," Aqualad answered, "and the Justice League's conducting their own search just to make sure we can easily find who's doing this."

They were all silent as they waited for Oracle's result and immediately perked up when they heard her voice.

" _Guys,"_ she started, " _the signal's all over the world. I can't ping the exact location or get something that might point us to the culprit."_

"What about the Justice League?" Dick asked. "Have they found something?"

" _They also got nothing."_

Dick rubbed his hands on his face in frustration and sighed in distress. He thought he could easily handle things while Batman was away, but he thought wrong. He still needs his guidance, after all.

"We gotta warn them," he said. "Whoever's trying to do this would become the game changer in that battle."

"Worst thing is," Starfire said, breaking her silence, "we don't know if it's for the best or worst."

" _Wait,"_ Oracle's voice broke them out of their stupor. " _Somehow, I managed to take a peek at some information on the jump."_

"Anything good?" Dick was on the edge as they waited for Oracle's news.

" _Yes,"_ she said. " _They seem to be short on energy resource to jump start it, but if they're near an electrical grid, it would only take two to three minutes."_

"How much energy needed?" Kid Flash inquired.

There was a few seconds of silence on the other end of the line as Oracle tried to find out every details she must have missed.

" _Large enough to cover a whole country for a week,"_ she said.

"Okay," Kid Flash said before running away from them. He thought of checking all electrical grid all over the world, but he wasn't sure if he could handle all by himself.

That's where Wally would enter…

"Wally," he spoke through his communicator, knowing that Wally was listening on the other end, "I need your help."

" _Dick already briefed me with details,"_ he replied. " _I'm already halfway finished checking all electrical grids in the Asia."_

"Any news?"

The sound of the wind rushing as Wally ran can be heard loudly, but Kid Flash could still clearly hear Wally's answer.

" _Unfortunately, none."_ The disappointment was heavy on his voice and Kid Flash knew Wally gave his all in finding the source of their current problem.

"We can still check it one last time," Kid Flash said to assure Wally, "we still have a minute and a half before whoever made this can get away."

" _You're wrong, Kid Flash,"_ Oracle's voice reached Kid Flash's ears and he immediately halted his running.

"What do you mean, Oracle?" he asked.

" _They've already made the jump,"_ Oracle replied in a monotone voice.

Kid Flash can't help but to cuss out his frustration. "Shit!"

He heard Wally gave out an irritated grunt in regards to Oracle's news.

" _I've already sent out an alert across dimensions, but I don't know if they'll be able to receive it faster than we wanted to,"_ she sighed; her furious typing on her computer was clearly heard on Kid Flash's comms. " _All we need to do is prevent any further interdimensional jump before this whole thing could blow into proportion."_

" _Okay."_ He recognized Dick's voice as the channel transmission of his comms shifted to the Titan's Tower. " _Contact us as soon as you discover any more anomalies."_

" _Got it."_ That was the last thing Kid Flash heard from Oracle before his transmission to her was cut.

" _Wally, Bart,"_ Dick said, " _get your butts here as soon as you can. We need to have a meeting."_

Kid Flash was already beside Dick even before he could finish uttering the last word on his sentence.

" _Sorry, Dick,"_ Wally apologized, " _I still need to check on Snart's condition. Be there when I can."_

* * *

Wally arrived in no time on Snart's hideout. He intended to check on Snart's condition before going on his way to the meeting, but he knew it wouldn't be enough to assure the man's safety. There might still be a probability that he is in danger after what happened to him. His frequent visits may be the only thing he could do to protect him after Snart rejected his offer to transfer him to the Watchtower.

"Snart," Wally called out to the the darkness of Snart's hideout. "Where are you? I brought chicken enchiladas!"

He frowned when he did not heard any response coming from Snart. Finally, he decided to check Snart's bedroom to check if he was asleep.

"Snart," he called out to the closed door. "I'm coming in."

Wally's frown deepened when he saw Snart's bedroom thrown into disarray with him missing. A pool of blood got his attention that sent a panic on Wally's system. He immediately jumped into conclusion that Snart was taken by Joker's henchmen, effectively making him decide to call Dick and the rest of the Titans.

"Dick," he said as soon as he got connected to Dick comms, "we have a problem."

"Snart's missing. He was probably abducted 'coz his room's a disaster and there's pool of blood on the floor."

" _Is there anything you can see?"_ Dick asked.

Wally inspected the doors in Snart's hideout. It seems that there is no forced entry that happened, which made Wally think that Snart might have known the person who abducted him.

"There's no sign of forced entry, Dick," Wally reported. "Snart might know who abducted him."

He exited Snart's bedroom to further investigate and was not disappointed when he saw a letter on a coffee table in the living room.

"I saw a letter," he said, "probably left by the kidnappers."

" _What does it says?"_

"'Wally,'" he started reading. "'Luthor's scheduled to have an interdimensional jump at exactly three o'clock. He's recruited many more to go with him.'"

" _I have a bad feeling about where that letter's going to,"_ Dick hissed in annoyance.

"'You might probably be wondering if I've allied myself with them, but,'" Wally took a deep breath before continued reading the letter. "No, I don't plan on the near future after what they did to me. However, I did plan to sneak up to them and joyride on their jump.'"

"Well, that answers the question." Wally did not bothered on finishing the letter and just ran until he made it into the Titans Tower.

"Heard about what happened, Wally." Clovis greeted as soon as Wally entered the main room. "How the hell's that Luthor guy been giving you headaches?"

All of the people in the main room gave Clovis a confused look. They didn't know what he was trying to say.

"That guy has no powers and yet you super-powered humans has been on the receiving end of his pathetic actions? Can't you just kill him to spare yourselves some problems?"

Dick was the one who's first to reprimand the ex-prince. "That's not something we could pull off easily, Clovis."

"Yeah," seconded by Speedy. "We're not like you who's willing to commit genocide after being defeated by his enemies." He sarcastically added, which made Clovis quiet.

"That's enough, Speedy!" Starfire reprimanded Speedy. "We're here to solve problems, not cause more."

"She's right," Wally affirmed. "We've yet to tell Aquaman and the rest about Snart and now he's in another dimension."

"And now Luthor and a bunch of evil villains, too."

Dick drummed his fingers on the table while thinking about the possible ways they could remedy the situation without making it worse.

"Dick," Starfire said, "shall I contact Aquaman now?"

Dick nodded in affirmation. "Yes, Starfire, if you would."

"And you might as well inform him about what happened," Speedy added.

Clovis snorted, "Not if that Oracle beat you to it."

* * *

 **Britannian Satellite Camp**

"There!"

Hawkman immediately landed right after John pointed out the unconscious Lelouch and Diana on the ground. He scanned the area for the enemies, but only found destroyed knightmare frames and dead people. No particular presence of Joker nor his goons.

"They're knockouted," John informed right after Hawkman went to assist him, "probably because of sleeping gas."

"Well," Hawkman took a flare gun off his belt and aimed at the sky, ready for signaling Kilowog, Hawkgirl, and the people in the command center that they have already found Lelouch and Diana, "we might as well find the rest and get out of this place before Joker and his goons attack us again."

"Come to think of it," John mumbled in pure confusion. "Where's Superman and Batman? I thought they're already on this area?"

"If you really want an answer, you might as well stare at Lelouch and Diana." Hawkman countered.

John narrowed his eyes at Hawkman before lifting Lelouch and Diana from the ground, forming a green bubble to protect the two.

"Let's go and find the rest," John stared ahead of his path and without looking at Hawkman, added, "before all hell break loose again."

* * *

 **A/N:** Yes! Back online, baby! Had to cool down for a month after our busy sched in my college. Lots of stress and problems were encountered during our play production that we have to focus all our patience and work on it just to remedy it, but now that's already finish (not really, though). Probably the next challenge I have to work with was my fourth and last year in college hahaha.

Anyways, I know lots of you were really waiting for this part and I have a compensation for the months that I was absent:

 **Next Chapter:** A Death of a Family (The Conflict of Hiroshima part 4)

 _His eyes widened in fear when Joker activated the portable Hadron Cannon and blasted his unattentive friend from behind._

 _Lelouch knew that he won't be able to save him in time, but he won't give up. As long as there is hope to save him, he would gladly risk his life for him… but apparently, that was not enough for him to save his friend._

 _He watched in horror as his friend plummeted and crashed hundreds of yards away from Joker._

" _Noooo!"_

 _Suzaku stared in horror at what Joker did, unable to move even a muscle because of the shock the registered on his mind. He knew what Joker was capable of, but he underestimated his capabilities and his apathy for things._

Now, I wonder who died there?

Cheers!

P.S. I might go back and edit some stuffs in previous chapters. Apparently, I am wrong with J'onn J'onzz's name (hahahahaha sorry). Found out when I started rewatching the Justice League animated series.


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